Banner ads pioneered internet marketing, with the internet's first ever banner ad making it's appearance in 1994. Today, the general user of the internet is becoming increasingly "net-savvy" and aware of advertisements. They are viewed as an annoyance by many and are almost always ignored by the general user. This is reflected with banner ads having an extremely low click-through-rate (CTR), with the average being less than 0.5% of the total number of hits the website receives.

But while CTR of banner ads continue to fall, as does the cost of having a banner ad on a website. Previously, only large companies with huge advertising budgets were able to afford banner advertising. Today, almost anyone can advertise with the majority of websites selling in bundles of 1,000 views, better known as "impressions". But with 1,000 impressions costing an average $4 and a CTR of 0.5%, this translates into only 5 clicks -- hardly worth what is being paid.

These underwhelming results have forced advertisers to rethink their ways of advertising and find new methods. One of the more popular methods today is contextual advertising -- a system originally developed by Google with their programme AdSense that displays ads on relevant websites throughout their search engine and partner websites throughout the internet. It ensures that advertisers are reaching their target audience and are only paying per click.

So has banner advertising lost it's appeal? It certainly isn't as popular as it once was, but it can be somewhat effective if you create a unique ad and are advertising on the right websites. With that being said, it isn't long until banner advertising dies out completely.

Want a brand new method of advertising that guarantees a high number of clicks and conversions? Check out Peel Away Ads.

Source: www.isnare.com