RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 How Smart Are ‘Smart Banners’?
JF Journal of Advertising Research
JO J Advert Res
FD WARC
SP 31
OP 43
DO 10.2501/JAR-41-4-31-43
VO 41
IS 4
A1 Wenyu Dou
A1 Randy Linn
A1 Sixian Yang
YR 2001
UL http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/41/4/31.abstract
AB Smart banners, or keyword–activated banners that are tied to internet user search keywords, are becoming increasingly popular with major search engines and their advertisers. Understanding how smart banners work best is a challenge facing the online advertising industry. This paper examines how specificity in the meaning of search keywords may affect the accuracy of banner matches. Through analysis of banner matches obtained from 12 major search engines, the authors found that as search keywords became more specific, search engines returned fewer exact banner matches and more general banner matches. Implications of these findings for search engines and their advertisers are discussed.