ad banner

An online advertisement on a Web page, it links to another Web site or buffer page or landing page.

Traditionally, ad banners have been the most common unit of advertising on the Web, and cost anywhere from FREE to $5,000 to more than $150,000 per month depending on the amount of traffic and page views the Web site receives, or the CPC or CPA the advertisement receives.

It is called an ad banner because it is in the shape of a banner, usually placed at the top or bottom of a Web page. The term "ad banner" morphed into any form of online ad, including small rectangular boxes known as buttons, large vertical boxes known as skyscrapers to pre-rolls, floaters and social ads. 

Historical perspective: What was the world's first ad banner? The one above! AT&T paid HotWired to display the above banner on October 25, 1994, setting in motion the creation of ad banners and online advertising. About 44 percent of the people who saw it actually clicked on it. The standard size for each type of online ad is set by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), who retired the original 468×60 ad banner in 2011.

Online advertising grew into a big industry. Spending for online ads was about $300 million in 1996, and it grew to $5.4 billion in 2000 (even though the click-through rate (CTR) is less than 1% and more than 50% of surfers say they never click on banners. In 2017, online advertising spending surpassed that of TV for the first time.

Click on "more info" below for a display of ad banner sizes.