Display Ads
Display ads are visual advertisements, such as banners, images, and videos, that appear on websites and apps within an ad network.
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By Joris van Huët, Founder & CEOUpdated 4 min read
What are Display Ads?
Display ads are a form of digital advertising that use visual elements such as images, banners, videos, and rich media to promote products or brands across websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms within an ad network. Originating in the late 1990s with the rise of banner ads, display advertising has evolved to encompass programmatic buying, real-time bidding, and sophisticated targeting based on user behavior and demographics. For ecommerce brands, display ads serve as a useful tool to increase brand awareness, retarget visitors who abandoned carts, and drive traffic directly to product pages. Unlike search ads that capture demand through keywords, display ads work proactively by capturing attention during browsing sessions, influencing consumer awareness and interest stages in the purchase funnel.
Technically, display ads are delivered via ad servers and platforms like Google Display Network, Facebook Audience Network, and programmatic DSPs (Demand-Side Platforms). These platforms enable granular targeting using contextual and behavioral data, such as interests, demographics, and past interactions with the brand. Measurement of display ad effectiveness involves tracking key metrics like impressions, click-through rates (CTR), and conversion rates. However, traditional last-click attribution often overstates or misattributes the impact of display ads because they frequently assist rather than close sales.
Why Display Ads matter for ecommerce
For ecommerce marketers, display ads are important because they enable proactive audience engagement beyond search intent, helping brands reach potential customers early in their shopping journey. Display campaigns can significantly improve brand recall and nurture prospects through visual storytelling, which is especially valuable for industries like fashion and beauty, where aesthetics and lifestyle appeal drive purchase decisions. Without causal attribution, marketers risk undervaluing or overvaluing display ads, leading to misinformed decisions.
How to use Display Ads
- Define clear campaign objectives aligned with ecommerce goals such as increasing product page visits, retargeting cart abandoners, or boosting new customer acquisition.
- Select appropriate display ad formats, static banners for quick messaging, videos for storytelling, or interactive rich media for engagement, tailored to your target audience on platforms like Google Display Network or Facebook Audience Network.
- Use audience segmentation based on behavior (e.g., viewed product but didn’t purchase), demographics, and interests to improve relevance and reduce ad fatigue.
- Implement tracking pixels and UTM parameters to collect granular data on impressions, clicks, and conversions.
- Analyze results focusing on metrics like incremental conversions and return on ad spend (ROAS) rather than just last-click attribution.
- Iterate creative, targeting, and bidding strategies based on causal insights to maximize efficiency and scale successful campaigns.
Formula
Incremental Conversions = Total Conversions With Display Ads - Estimated Conversions Without Display Ads (counterfactual baseline estimated via causal inference)
Common mistakes
- Relying solely on last-click attribution: This undervalues display ads’ assistive role and can lead to budget cuts on effective campaigns. Use causal attribution instead.
- Poor audience targeting: Broad, untargeted display ads waste spend and reduce ROI. Segment audiences by behavior and demographics.
- Ignoring ad fatigue: Serving the same creatives too frequently causes banner blindness. Rotate creatives regularly.
- Overlooking view-through conversions: Some users convert without clicking ads immediately. Track and analyze view-through attribution.
- Neglecting incremental impact measurement: Without causal analysis, marketers cannot differentiate between conversions caused by display ads and those that would have occurred anyway.
- Avoid these mistakes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of display ad campaigns, particularly in competitive ecommerce verticals.
Frequently asked questions
How do display ads differ from search ads in e-commerce marketing?
Display ads visually engage users proactively on various websites and apps, often targeting users based on interests or past behavior, while search ads capture intent by showing ads in response to user queries. Display ads are better for brand awareness and retargeting, whereas search ads usually drive direct intent-based conversions.Why is causal attribution important for measuring display ad effectiveness?
Display ads often assist conversions rather than directly cause them, so last-click attribution can misrepresent their true value. Causal attribution uses advanced analytics to isolate the incremental impact of display ads, helping marketers understand the real ROI and optimize budgets accordingly.What are best practices for targeting display ads in an e-commerce context?
Best practices include segmenting audiences based on browsing behavior and purchase history, using dynamic creatives tailored to product interests, applying frequency caps to manage ad fatigue, and testing multiple ad formats to find what resonates with your target customers.How can display ads help reduce cart abandonment for Shopify stores?
Display ads can retarget users who added items to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase by showing personalized ads featuring those products or special offers.What metrics should e-commerce marketers focus on when evaluating display ad campaigns?
Marketers should track not only impressions and clicks but also incremental conversions, ROAS, view-through conversions, and engagement metrics like time spent on site.