Display Advertising
Display advertising is the practice of placing visual ads such as banners, images, or rich media on websites, apps, and platforms across the web. It is used mainly to build awareness and reach audiences while they browse content unrelated to your offer.
In depth
Display ads are typically bought across ad networks and exchanges, where placements are targeted by audience attributes, interests, contextual keywords, or retargeting lists rather than direct purchase intent. Because viewers are not actively searching for you, click-through rates are low and the format works best for reach, brand recall, and nudging warm audiences back into the funnel. Strong creative, frequency capping, and precise audience targeting are what separate wasteful spend from efficient awareness.
The common pitfall is judging display purely on last-click conversions, which undercounts its assisting role in longer buying journeys. In a quiz-funnel workflow, display is best used to retarget people who visited but did not finish a scorecard quiz: a banner invites them back to complete it, the quiz re-qualifies them, and you can suppress ads to anyone who already became a high-scoring lead. This keeps spend focused on moving prospects forward instead of paying to reach people who already converted.
Example in practice
Frequently asked questions
Is display advertising better for awareness or conversions?
Display is primarily an awareness and retargeting channel, since most viewers are not actively searching for your product. It can still drive conversions, especially in retargeting, but you should measure it on assisted conversions and view-through impact, not last click alone.
What ad sizes work best for display?
Responsive ads that adapt to placements perform well, but classic sizes like the 300x250 medium rectangle, 728x90 leaderboard, and 160x600 skyscraper still earn strong reach. Always test a few sizes so the network can fill the most inventory.
How do I avoid wasting budget on display?
Use tight audience targeting, frequency caps, and exclusion lists so you stop showing ads to converted leads or irrelevant placements. Sending clicks to a qualifying quiz instead of a generic page also filters out low-intent traffic quickly.