Web banner

Banners (singular that, in the jargon of network is also " the banner " common) are a form of Internet advertising. The advertising thus becomes part of the graphics or animation file, usually in GIF or Flash format in the website. Banner then refer as a hyperlink to the website of the advertiser. Banners can be embedded in the page, but put in some instances, for a few seconds on the page. In the advertising industry, various standard sizes have been established. Since the mid- 2000s Banner increasingly losing favor of video advertising and other forms of advertising important.

Banner Advertising

The banner ads can be included in a partner program. These affiliate programs offered by affiliate networks. In particular, personal homepages often participate in banner exchange networks to each other to forward visitors. Larger sites make use of when selling advertising space for the most part a specialized marketing company while selecting, planning, and purchasing is carried out for the purposes of advertising goals of the customer through a media agency.

When the visitor clicks on the banner, it will be automatically directed to the website of the advertising company. The operators of this website make money from it, how many times the banner of the advertising company was displayed when visitors ( CPM or CPM model) or have clicked as often visitors to the switched Banner (cost- per-click ( CPC) model). For other forms of advertising operators earned only by certain actions that were triggered as a result of forwarding, such as a purchase order from an online shop ( so-called cost-per -order or sale programs ) or log on to a website ( so-called cost-per -lead or lead- programs ).

Banners are usually animated to attract more attention. This movement and blinking are however often bothersome. Some users have even accustomed to no longer perceive Banner, is correspondingly low nowadays the chance that a visitor actually clicks on a banner. Also advertising filters are more and more widespread. Banners have thereby lost much of its appeal as an advertising platform. The attractiveness of a banner is measured by the click-through rate, which is the percentage of clicks in relation to its overall impressions. The conversion rate is the percentage of clicks on a banner led to a measurable degree to create (such as ordering a product or subscribe to a newsletter) and can serve to calculations of the cost-effectiveness of the use of banner ads.

New forms of advertising are, for example, represents the pixel banners that do not build in contrast to the other variants at the sole representation of an advertising medium, but on a shared billboard.

Banner species

Static Banner

When the first banners were developed that spread at this time web browser could display only a fixed, non-animated graphics. Accordingly, simple graphical banner, which had to move only by a still image to the attention of the user and are thus referred to as " static" emerged.

Since banners but generally are not large in area, static graphics offer very few opportunities to an advertising message across. The only action the options is to click that leads to the linked site of the advertiser. But even without animation high click rates can be achieved in static banners thoroughly. And if the message is relevant to the user. This can be affected by two things: 1) an interesting offer of the advertiser and 2) the proper placement of a banner by a media agency. Another way to get clicks with a static banners are so-called fake banner. Thus, the banner can be " camouflaged " for example as a Windows system message or by integrating scrollbars and similar control elements, so he deceives by before a function and thus provokes a click action.

Image-text combinations

Combinations of static images and accompanying short texts are mainly used in the field of performance marketing. The ads are usually used in the context of cost - per-click (CPC ) or cost-per- lead campaigns (CPL ) and are particularly suitable for sales- oriented advertisers, where the awareness for the brand plays only a secondary role.

From marketing point of view, these small formats usually only a supplement to other forms of advertising is to be marketed to those otherwise unused residual areas of larger portal pages.

Animated Banner

This can be accommodated by the specific animation movement conveyed and much more text. The banner is so eye- catching and provides creative potential for advertising agencies. These animated GIFs are used. These indicate a sequence of successively housed in a file individual images in a continuous loop. Interactivity, however, is not expanded at this banner shape, but the only possible action is still limited to clicking on the linked banner. Since neither server nor user other special technical requirements must be met, and also in the development of sufficient space for creativity is present, the animated banner ad format currently most commonly used on the Internet Act unfortunately, however, the creativity is a quick end when it comes to storage space. The maximum sizes are set in this regard namely reaches of animated banners very often.

HTML Banners

An HTML banner, in contrast to static and animated banners, not only from a single graph, but rather of a series of HTML elements that are inserted within the source code of the website of the media. Correspondingly, can thus certain (apparently ) that are used as pull-down menus and selection boxes interactive elements based on HTML. Of course, but it can also be integrated graphics. The users new possibilities this opens up, he can, for example, a particular product within Select the banner and then pass through a simple click on the respective information pages. If in addition also uses JavaScript, integrated in the HTML source programming language, as well as other interactive elements such as games, etc. can be inserted.

Nano -site banner

Basically, you nanosite banner (also called microsites ) as its own small website indicate the size of a banner. Here, a fully functional website will appear in the advertising space, with as many and complex site sections can be linked. The corresponding content is then also displayed on the same advertising space, so that the user no longer has to leave the site of the advertising medium. Conceivable for, for example, the possibility of a complete mini - shops with all its functionalities. Solutions on the market are now offered that help based on a product data export and a graphic template can be provided in a simple manner and without complex programming nanosite banner.

Rich Media Banner

The term " rich media banner " means multimedia upgraded banner, which may include video, audio and 3D components. This form of interactive advertising is usually based on plug-ins and server extensions, va on the flash technology. Thus, the development of new technologies for the Internet while also determines the new rich media banner types. Since the harassment by site visitors through the uninvited audio effects can be significant, the user- initiated activation of the clay by click or mouse -over is now common practice.

Transactive banner

Compared to nanosite banners that are closed mini-sites in itself, this form of advertising offers an even higher possibility of variation, interactivity and openness. The word " transacted " already implies the operation of those of banner. Here, not only all the relevant product information and sales services can be offered to, but there is also the possibility to interact with other servers, whereby the content of the banner from other sites can be made dependent and thus adapted to date. All this work, you must leave the website of the advertising medium without the user. So the company is also in this case to the customer and not vice versa. These multifunctional Banner based depending on the technical requirements of the advertising on Shockwave, or Java. Are conceivable, for example, content, audio and video streams, auctions and much more.

Streaming Banner

These banners variant is characterized by the ability to integrate audio and video streams. For the transmission of data, each streaming technology can in principle be used. The best creative advertising and technical possibilities open up currently but when used in Flash banner integrated streams, as this also part of the switching site no special preparations must be made. In any case, this form of advertising leads due to the multimedia content to an increased attention of the user, and thus to a better advertising success. The possibilities opened up by this banner variant, also are extremely varied, thus can, for example, extensive audio and video short films, news, preview, movies, songs, and more are transferred with it.

Pixel banner

These banners variant is characterized by the fact that your advertising space is not available for a single advertising medium, but for any number of theoretically available, as long as there is enough space. As a rule, surfaces ( typically 1000 times 1000 pixels in total size ) in block sizes (eg 10 x 10 pixels) are usually sold in GIF or JPEG format at fixed prices. Then small pictures can be displayed on these areas, which are provided with a descriptive text and a link. Visitors of pixel banner pages differ generally from the usual " random " stream of visitors. In this case the advertising pages of different motivations (pure interest, curiosity, boredom ) clicked and not imposed forced. Due to the voluntary nature of intuition increases automatically the stream of visitors flowing to the advertised websites about this advertising medium.

Standard sizes

Until the early 2000s the format was 468 × 60 pixels as the most widespread. The Interactive Advertising Bureau ( IAB) specifies for the U.S. space following standard sizes fixed (given in width x height in pixels):

For the German-speaking area of the Circle of Online Marketers (OVK ) has the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW ) based on the Universal AdPackage the following variables defined which are currently considered as standard:

The four formats Super Banner, Rectangle, Medium Rectangle and Wide Skyscraper are part of the Universal Ad Package - a globally recognized standard by the U.S. Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB U.S.) was developed. The advertisement of the Universal Ad Package are not only recognized internationally, but are in effect also demonstrably better than traditional formats.

In addition, a micro button called format of 80 × 15 pixels has been mainly in Blogs enforced, which is also often used as a text link replacement, such as the RSS icon.

Adserver

The technical infrastructure for the delivery of banners is subsumed under the term ad server. These systems are used by marketers and website operators and on the part of agencies and advertisers. In the websites placeholder for advertising are as integrated links (so-called AdTags ) and when a page is filled by the user with advertising. In order to rotate in the same place different banners and advertisers. The use of ad servers also enables the delivery of control and facilitate the design change.

Market volume

The provider of banner advertising on the German market are online marketers Circle (OVK ) of the Federal Association of the Digital Economy (BVDW ) eV organized and regularly publish in collaboration with Nielsen Media Research, the OVK Online Report with statistics on the market volume. Thus, in 2007, with traditional online advertising ( which is essentially congruent with banner advertising is ) a gross turnover of 1.479 billion euros in Germany achieved. This is about every second euro that is invested in Germany in online advertising, plugged into this form of advertising. Thomson Media Control came on behalf of the industry association Bitkom for 2007 at the lower value of 976 million euros, which is due to the different consideration of discounts.

Media planning

Similar to the approach in the traditional media is compared to the structure of the users of a website with the target group of a campaign as part of the affinity- based media planning based on socio-demographic data. The necessary data base for the German market by the Association of Online Research (AGOF ), which is mainly funded and supported by the providers. Alternatively, can be limited by targeting the use of banners to a defined group of users. Reference points for this are socio-demographic data but also the observed user behavior (so-called predictive behavioral targeting). Finally, in practice, is also observed in bulk, rather indiscriminate scattering of banners based on cost -per-click or low - CPM models.

For all planning methods usually expenditures for banner placement in relation are set to the determined via the web controlling sales to ensure the profitability of the campaign. Standing branding considerations in the heart of the campaign, it can be measured through surveys accompanying the effect of banner advertising on factors such as reputation, brand awareness or purchase intent.

Psychological effect

Although banners are widely used and their effectiveness to attract new customers and increase revenue by virtually all professional advertiser is permanently monitored and detected, the effect is always in the criticism. 1998, a study showed that Internet users under the " banner blindness ," " suffering ," which is to say not at all its content processing. 2001 demonstrated another study that banner make a website in the eyes of its users frivolous. 2004 showed an investigation that banners increase the "perceived workload " when browsing a website greatly, although the content of the banner itself is not processed. These findings of research on usability (usability ) are often ignored as banner for countless offers the greatest contributors to refinance.

According to a study by Adtech the click-through rate on banners in November 2004 was still 0.33 percent and fell to March 2007 to 0.18 per cent. This is, however, a rough average which can be significantly exceeded in large formats in affine channels, but also well below with untargeted use of small formats.

In its psychological effect also forms of banner advertising aimed that deliberately break with the usage habits of the surfer. The " banner blindness " is to be counteracted by more or less forced upon employment with the advertising. Examples are exchanged or misleading designed buttons in layer ads or banners that open by simply touching the mouse pop-ups. The trouble involved is taken in favor of increased attention in purchasing.

Filter

There are also special software to suppress banners and other forms of online advertising. These are already partly integrated in some browsers such as Opera, Konqueror and Mozilla Firefox, in others it can be retrofitted. Based on specific filtering rules such programs try to distinguish banners of images belonging to the website which does not succeed in all cases.

Blocking of advertising but at the cost of the website operator. Especially in smaller offers the rental of advertising space is the only allowance.

Ways of filtering:

• Block: When advertising images identified images are not loaded and therefore not shown.
• Load -and-discard: advertising graphics are loaded but not shown.