Initially seen as the bane of quality content and still despised and dismissed by many, banner ads and other advertising approaches have helped drive the Internet craze, from the geometric growth in sites to the Internet stock feeding frenzy. Advertising revenue has also made a huge difference in the number of searchable databases offered for free on the Web. While ads provide many sites' major revenue stream, they also can have an important impact for the information professional. As with the rest of the Web, Internet advertising strategies are constantly changing, adapting, and finding new roles. And it is not always apparent where a site's original content differs from second-party content and from advertiser information.
Advertisements are, by definition and design, vehicles for conveying information.
They may be deceptive, misleading, inaccurate, and annoying, but ads can reveal much about a company's target market, branding efforts, and key selling points. Occasionally, ad links can be more relevant than the regular search engine results. And on the Net, understanding the dynamics of Web advertising can help evaluate Net content. The most prevalent advertisements are the banner ads. Typically at or near the top of a page and a rectangle about 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels high, the banner ad is the original standard advertising unit on the Web.