1. Concept of online advertising
Online advertising is advertising done on the Internet. It is one of the most widely used online marketing. It is a high-tech advertising operation method that uses advertising banners, text links, and multimedia on websites to publish or release advertisements on the Internet and transmit them to Internet users through the Internet. There are many forms of online advertising. At present, the common forms of online advertising on domestic and foreign website pages are roughly signboard advertising, button advertising, mailing list advertising, wallpaper advertising, sponsorship advertising, email advertising, promotional advertising, interstitial advertising, and interactive game advertising. Almost all online marketing activities are related to brand image. Among all online marketing methods related to brand promotion, online advertising has the most direct effect.
According to Victoria Petrock, chief analyst of eMarketer, online advertising expenditures in various industries are growing. According to the latest index of eMarketer, online advertising expenditures in the United States reached 58.61 billion US dollars in 2015, and retail advertising accounted for 22.0%, or 12.91 billion US dollars, far exceeding other industries.
2. Forms of online advertising
Online advertising uses advanced multimedia technology and has flexible and diverse forms of advertising.
Currently, there are 9 main forms of online advertising.
(1) Banner ads
Banner ads, also known as “flag ads,” are the most commonly used form of advertising. They are usually placed on web pages in formats such as Flash, GIF, and JPG. They can also be made interactive using languages such as Java, and enhanced with plug-in tools such as Shockwave. Banner ads started out as static ads that users could click on to enter the advertiser’s website, and later gradually developed into interactive ads.
(2) Button ads
Button ads, also known as “icon ads,” are a special form of slogan ads. Their production methods, payment methods, and properties are no different from banner ads, except for their shape and size. Because of their small size and simple expression techniques, they are generally composed of only one iconic pattern, usually a trademark or factory logo. They contain very limited information and are relatively unattractive, so they can only serve as a reminder.
(3) Text link ads
Text link ads are ads that use a row of text as an ad. Clicking on a text link will take you to the corresponding ad page. This is a form of online advertising that causes minimal disruption to the viewer, but is more effective. Sometimes, the simplest form of advertising has the best effect.