Are Display Ads the Future of Paid Search?

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Historically, paid search generally leads in terms of positive ROI performance.This is because of two reasons: relevancy of ads to the user and efficiency in media buying. ROI depends not only on how much you make but the cost of doing business.

However, three-line, paid search text ads can be beat – by full color, motion banners with video and rich media functionality. The trick is retaining that distinct call to action that text gets across so well, and which is so easy to split test in text ads.

Dynamic creative banners are customized to each user for every impression. This allows Multi-Variant Testing; a template allows input of various calls to action, graphics etc based on rules set in the system and data collected about the user.

Behavioral targeting in the form of retargeting ads to users who have recently visited your site can show distinct improvements in CTR and conversion rates.

Vertical ad networks let you target tight groups such as mothers, A racial or gender driven demographic, or even lifestyle and hobby niche markets. The goal as always is to make every impression count and not waste clicks on irrelevant users.

In some cases, your target audience may be much different than you think in terms of gender, age, education level, household income, etc. Data gathered from trackers and analytics piggybacked on banners such as those used by ComScore can provide insights which will be invaluable when it comes to media planning, creative direction, and landing page design.

Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) are similar to search management platforms; they allow centralized management and reporting of multiple ad exchange accounts and serve as a data hub. Data exchangers partner with web publishers and track user behavior, then sell that data to advertisers and ad networks to supplement targeting data. Such purchased data makes ad exchanges, dynamic creative, retargeting efforts much more effective.

Display ads may well be the future, so learning as much as possible now is the smart thing to do.