Utilizing the Click-Through

American consumers are bombarded by advertisements every single day. Driving down the highway billboards loom overhead, when reading the morning newspaper advertisements cloud entire pages, and while sitting at home watching a favorite TV program, the regularly scheduled program is interrupted by a 30-second spot for household cleaner.
While advertisements can be an everyday annoyance they are important to the American way of life. It is how we as a people learned about new products that enhance our lives and potentially boost the economy. However, these advertisements that are displayed above us or invade our pre-work ritual leave much to be desired. These contextual ads give the consumer a quick preview of what they could buy, watch, or eat, and not very much information on what exactly it is the potential buyer is investing in.
In our new digital age the media and information giant known as the internet provides gateways for us as consumers to get that initial attention-grabbing glimpse of the product and the information to back it up. The consumer gets both pieces by clicking on the initial advertisement which directs them to a website that further describes the product with information. This is known as the “click-through”.
The two main methods that utilize this technique are banner ads and interstitial ads, more commonly known as pop-ups.
Banner advertisements were the first advertising method to implore the click-through.(Internet Advertising Works) Banners are stationary ads that can sit on the top of web page (known as a ‘skyscraper’) or on the side of a web page (a vertical banner). Banners can incorporate mixed media into their design utilizing moving images and sounds making the ads more attention-grabbing. One important aspect of banner ads are their ability to be placed strategically. Advertisers can buy keywords so that when that word is used in a search their ad will pop up. Cookies also enable the internet to track which websites users frequent which makes it possible for sites to target advertisements to the particular visitor’s interests. (Howstuffworks.com)
See example of an banner advertisement (Figure 1.4).

The second mode of advertising is the interstitial ad, or the pop-up. Pop-ups literally “pop-up” when an individual is browsing the internet. Similar to banner ads, pop-ups give the initial advertisement and when they are clicked on, they lead to the product website. (Howstuffworks.com)
See example of a pop-up advertisement on a webpage (Figure 1.5)

The cohesion of the initial text that ultimately leads to the informational advertisement is a tactic that can only be utilized on the internet.