The History of Web Advertising
Web advertising has grown and changed considerably since its beginnings in the early 1990s. Online ads offer customers a more interactive way to shop and buy at the same time they give sellers a more layered method of reaching the public. Looking at the history of Web advertising shows us how far the medium has come, and where it is headed.
Other People Are Reading
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Significance
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Online advertising has changed the way consumers purchase products. Unlike with print or broadcast ads, when customers see an online ad, they can go immediately to the advertiser's website to buy the products or services promoted.
"Cookies" (digital files that record users' visits to particular websites) give businesses the ability to better target their online advertising. These data files help advertisers feed ads for searched-for items and relevant products to customers as they browse the Internet.
Facts
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Web advertising has followed a growth cycle similar to advertising in other media. Just as radio and television experienced a large initial interest, so has the Internet. While advertising in other media is stagnant or declining, online advertising continues to grow at a faster rate.
Newspapers were the early adopters of this new medium for advertising, as they tried to translate their traditional print product into an online revenue stream. Most of these early ads were simply digital copies of print ads. They directed customers to call or visit the advertisers' businesses, rather than linking directly to the businesses' websites.
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Timeline
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1994: The first Web advertising appears after the creation of Web browsers, starting with Netscape, allowed more complex Internet sites.
1995: Large corporations and brands such AT&T, Saturn, Time and Proctor & Gamble begin investing in both their own websites and online advertising.
1997: The Internet gains broad commercial acceptance as a sales medium. Businesses flock to the Web to create e-commerce sites, and content sites (usually online versions of newspapers or magazines) offer advertising space. As advertising begins to saturate the Web, marketers try new tactics to gain attention. By the end of 1997, pop-up and pop-under ads became common.
1999: Online spending reaches nearly $1 billion in the second quarter. Businesses fight for face time with customers on the exploding Internet.
2001: The "dot-com crash" leads to a sharp decline in online advertising spending.
2002: Google introduces its AdWords program, which will lead the text-based advertising movement.
2004: A decade after the first online ads appeared, spending on Web advertising reaches nearly $9.6 billion.
2009: Businesses move their advertising efforts into new areas by making wide use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
Design
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Originally, static ads known as banners and skyboxes dominated the tops and sides of websites, where site owners and advertisers hoped they would gain the most attention. Up until around 1996, most online ads had no motion; they were fixed images that linked to the advertiser's website.
With advances in JavaScript and Macromedia's Flash animation software, designers started adding movement to ads. "Advergames" -- small games inside online ads -- were the first successful interactive online ads. Today, Web advertising frequently includes sound and animation. Ads can expand when clicked or "fly" around the screen.
Potential
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According to Newspapers & Technology magazine, "A 2003 survey by online ad vendor DoubleClick revealed that rich media produced greater brand recognition and higher sales than static online ads." As more people gain access to high-speed Internet service, which is needed to run these more complex ads, rich media offers Web advertisers the potential for increased sales compared with other media.
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