Display advertising is also called banner advertising. This is because you can design a sales-oriented banner with a commercial message. The banner contains the company logo, text, photographs, graphics and even videos.  

This banner is then published over display advertising tools. The users targeted are those who fit a particular requirement trait. Display advertising brings in a whole range of possibilities and complexities. While search advertising limits the number of people who see your ads, display advertising lets you display the ads to people who aren’t actively searching.

Since your audience isn’t exactly looking for your service/product, they may not really be interested in your offer. Your ad should compel them to consider your offer. As the targeted display audience is not limited, the traffic pool is wider and cheaper. The targeting is more complex compared to search advertising. With Google Display Network or GDN, ads are placed on websites for targeting either the site or the user.

Display advertising requires advertisers to utilize cookies. The cookies help identify unique users. Cookies decide whom the ads need to be shown to. Cookies track a user, once he/she has left a page without purchasing anything. Display advertising is beneficial in re-targeting these users from the website they last visited. As advertisers collect data across numerous websites, they can all combine this information to create a user persona. Using the persona as a guide, ads can be created to deliver relevant ads to targeted users. 

This aggregation of user data to create advertisements is called Behavioral Targeting. Advertisers can also target users using semantic advertising (based on interests of users) and contextual advertising (based on the content of webpage). Both are appendages of display advertising. 

All the above sub-categories can lead to an increase in advertiser’s ROI. Display advertising is beneficial for garnering conversions, engagements, and reach. Display ads are becoming more sophisticated, with personalization becoming the need-of-the-hour.  

Geotargeting is also now highly pursued, with user’s IP address indicating his/her rough location. This information can be further leveraged through GPS or nearby mobile towers. This makes display advertising a powerful tool for personalized advertising.