Banner advertising has come a long way since its humble beginnings centuries ago. Yeah, that’s right. Centuries flip through any old newspaper or publication from the American Colonial era, and you’ll find rectangular banner ads pitching everything from beer to stockings, complete with the main image carefully chosen brand elements. Amado or a unique selling proposition.

And even a call to action. Of course, we’re not here to discuss old print banner ads for stylish powdered wigs or state of the art wooden dentures. Although it is useful to remember how long the ancestors of today’s digital banner ads have been around in this guide, we’re going to be discussing modern digital banner ads in all their glory. So for starters, what are they?

Basically, banner advertisements are actionable, clickable tappable images that invite web visitors to buy, learn about, or receive something in exchange for a click through. These ads can appear anywhere and are typically seen within and around the content of various websites, such as the header area on a forum page, the sidebar of a blog, or a news site, or even squeezed in among the paragraphs of a news article.

These banner ads come in all shapes and sizes. Typically variations of the trusty old rectangle and will either be static or animated. In more recent years, some businesses have been leveraging rich media banner ads that do all sorts of wacky stuff like send a car, zooming across your screen in front of the article you were reading, and these ads aren’t going anywhere soon. Banner ads still make up around 34% of all online ad spending.

Second, only to search engine marketing. So since they’ve been around for hundreds of years and businesses are spending a ton on them every year, clearly they work. The question is should you be using them in your business? That’s what we’ll be looking at in the next video.