Banner ad

A banner ad is a form of advertising on the World Wide Web. It consists of the addition of images, often animated, in a high-aspect ratio shape. That is to say, either wide wide short, or tall and narrow. These images are then linked to the web site of the advertiser. These images are usually placed on web pages that have interesting content, such as a newspaper article or an opinion piece.

Many banner ads work on a click-through payback system. When the advertiser scans their logfiles and detects that a web user has visited the advertiser's site from the content site by clicking on the banner ad, the advertiser sends the content provider some small amount of money (usually around five to ten US cents).