8 Types of Banner Ads — And How To Use Them

In today’s vibrant, fast-paced online landscape, banner advertisements play a crucial role in capturing your target audience’s attention and driving brand awareness. While these display ads have been around for some time, they continue to serve as eye-catching digital billboards for web page visitors, allowing marketers to deliver targeted messages across strategic platforms.

But, with so many different types of banner ads — each with unique uses, characteristics and benefits — it can be difficult to understand your options and use them effectively. To help your next display campaign succeed, let’s walk through the ins and outs of banner advertising, from the different types to the best practices.

What Is a Banner Advertisement?

Before we dive into each distinct format, it’s important to understand the basics. A web banner ad is a type of rectangular display ad that combines engaging imagery with a short call to action (CTA). Usually placed in highly visible locations on popular websites, these banners aim to generate interest, click-throughs, leads and purchases.

Due to ad placement and banner size restrictions, the most common displays use horizontal images across the top or bottom of the screen (a leaderboard banner) or vertical images along the left or right side (skyscraper ads).

How Banner Advertising Works

In banner advertising, there are three primary parties at play: the host, the display ad network and you, the advertiser. For instance, if you’re using Google...