Not Just Text: Video, Banners and Display In Text Ads

In Text Ads Go Display

In the early days of in text advertising, the double underline links opened bubbles with textual ads, mostly alongside a thumbnail image of the ad’s landing page as a preview. With time, the text ads gave way to more and more graphic ads that looked more like the regular banners. This trend is still in progress and the balance between text ads and banner ads is not fixed yet. In fact, this balance is very different between markets and it seems that in markets where in text ads are still relatively new, text ads still hold the reigns, while in more mature markets, banners are taking the lead.

Placing display ads within the bubbles is not a technological challenge. The bubbles can come in different sizes matching the standard banner dimensions, and running an animated banner or playing video is simply importing a different object into that location. So, if it’s really that simple, why aren’t all in text ads graphic, and why do they mostly start with text ads?

Ad Relevance and Noise Balance

The first aspect that makes in text ads so attractive to publishers who respect their content is that they are subtle and don’t add as much jumble as the graphic banners. In an attempt to keep the noise balance in favor of the actual content, in text ads can be relatively quiet. When the bubbles themselves are filled with flashy banners, the in text ads lose this advantage.

The second benefit of in text ads is that they are attached to specific terms within the content offering potential for high levels of contextual matching. When the ads are relevant, the visitors value them and in return, the advertisers gain real attention. This of course leads to higher revenues to the publishers with less annoyance to their visitors. By definition, it’s easier to match text ads to specific terms than it is with banners, which tend to be less specific. While it’s true that banners can be made more specific, in reality, they are not as contextual as text ads.

Why do Display Ads Win?

In light of the ad relevance and noise balance advantages of text ads over banners, why is it so that display ads take more and more bubble-share from in text ads? The answer is in permission marketing and the business model. Clearly, upon an intended mouse hover, when the bubble is opened, graphic elements may attract more attention and deliver a deeper message than a few words. And it’s exactly attention that advertisers seek from potential customers, aiming to achieve the gold trophy of real permission marketing. Now, when advertisers buy regular display campaigns, they’re counting on the banners to be placed next to the content, interfering the visitors in their interest in the content. As such, the level of expected attention is relatively low and consequently, the price per view is also low, because most visitors would pay very little attention.

Banners within in text ads are different. They are not placed and exposed unless the visitor expresses active interest in learning more about a highlighted term, and therefore the attention level is very high, especially when compared to a banner that is simply there, surrounding the content. This permission from the visitor to get exposed to the advertisement is highly valuable to advertisers.

And then comes the business model. While text ads are mostly charged per click, when financing a display campaign, the advertiser usually pays for impressions only. Clicks are just a bonus. And the price is set by the thousands of page views. The price of each such view is low, again, because in most of these page views the banner will get very little attention, if any. Each view usually costs fractions of a cent. But then, if the same campaign is placed within in text ads, each delivery receives direct, permitted attention. It’s a whole different story. But while the increase in attention can be enormous, the added cost is usually not as high, and advertisers can get a very good deal.

Therefore, from the advertiser’s point of view, placing display ads within the in text bubbles can prove to be very rewarding. In cases where the publishers agree to the higher level of noise and lower levels of relevancy, they too get rewarded in higher effective revenues. They also benefit from the fact that they are being paid for hovers – each time a visitor hovers with the mouse over an ad, the banner is displayed and counted – and therefore publishers get paid for visitors who haven’t necessarily clicked and left their website.

The Metrics Challenge

Integrating display campaigns into in text advertising methods holds a challenge in the form of distorted metrics. Since the banners get much more attention than they would have received outside of the bubble, they also get a much higher click through rate. When such campaigns run through widely accepted ad serving services or marketplaces, the metrics seem to be off the standard and almost fraudulent. With time, ad servers and marketplaces learn the special characteristics of in text ads and handle them correctly. But until this process is finalized, in text placing is often flagged as problematic and the provider needs to sort this out with the intermediaries.

Video In Text Ads

All this is true for video in text ads as well. A video played within the bubble is noisy but it has a strong appeal and often wins over the visitor’s attention. Again, there is a challenge with the metrics and the business model may need adjustments, but the potential is high for both advertisers and publishers.

There’s a Big Market Out There

Last but not least, display ads simply have a larger available market. While the text ads market is mostly controlled by Google which is still out of the in text arena, the market for display ads is more evenly shared among other ad networks who do work with in text advertisers. This means that the big display ads market is open for in text players and holds a great potential. This big display and video market out there explains why we see – and will continue to see – more and more banners within in text bubbles.