Display ads to grow to $200B industry by 2015

Google's VP of display ads believes the future of display ads will involve fewer, better ads

The future of display ads is simple: fewer ads, better ads, and more engagement, according to Google’s VP of display advertising, Neal Mohan, in a blog he posted Thursday morning. On Thursday morning, Mohan delivered a keynote address at the IAB’s Innovation Days @ Internet Week, called, “There’s a perfect ad for everyone,” in which Mohan made some very intriguing predictions on how display advertising will improve by the year 2015.

Firstly, Mohan predicts that the number of display ad impressions will decrease by 25%, but engagement across all display ads will increase by 50%. “Poppycock!” you say. Not so. Mohan believes that ads today are cluttered and irrelevant to most people, so while there is a proliferation of display ads on the Web, few people actually interact with them. As ads become more targeted and relevant, people will become more engaged and there won’t be a need for so many ads, leading to a natural slim-down of the number of display ads delivered to Web users.

Additionally, Mohan posits that more than 40% of people will name display ads as their preferred ad format, which is interesting, because I don’t think I have a preferred ad format, but Mohan points to a recent study Google conducted with YouGov that found that the number of people who preferred display ads trailed behind the number who said they prefer glossy magazine ads, cinema ads, and even sky-writing ads.

Furthermore, people will have more of a say in which ads they choose to see. In fact, Mohan estimates that users will be able to choose whether or not to view a video or receive a particular ad in 25% of all cases.

And some 35% of all campaigns will begin using metrics beyond clicks and conversions to measure effectiveness. Mohan believes more marketers will look to offline behavior, such as in-store shopping habits, and emotional engagement to determine how effective an ad campaign is.

All of these factors combined will result in the growth of display advertising to a $200 billion industry, according to Mohan. 

Image source: venturebeat.com