Do you use banners?

[dannyx]

Banners are not likely to be very popular anymore, at least I think so.
I don't think very many sites use them, compared to what they were many years ago.
It is known, banner banners are not equal. It can be an annoying banner with animation and it can be in the form of a picture of not great images.
Do you guys still use any banners on your sites, or do you think they are outdated and don't work?

I myself have always been an opponent and have never used a single banner on any site.
However, for a test I am just trying to add a tiny banner, without moving parts or animations 200x50 to the menu, so it will be visible on every page.
I'm betting that even though it's small, it will lower interest in the site and traffic to my site will drop. But want to make sure for a month that I'm right, or maybe it will be the other way around. But we'll see.

[TheGooner]

Yes I use banners.

Given the rigmarole around many jurisdictions have for exact wording of offers I find it useful to have a banner that spells things out exactly as the client / partner wants it to be displayed along with a bit of branding.

So I am OK with banners with moving parts - I am OK with large banners - as long as they offer facts and details.

[AVC-Invest]

Yes, i use banners also.

But i'm not as keen on them as i used to be, i think they can cause an issue with the look and feel of a website.

[newcustomeroffer]

Yes, I use banners in some instances - as Gooner has said, it takes care of the geo-targeting challenges.

[MichaelCorfman]

Yes, we use banners on most sites of ours. The exception is our paid subscription service sites (such as the iGamingDirectory.com website that folks normally pay to access, but that we offer as a member benefit for GPWA private members and sponsor affiliate programs).

There have definitely been huge changes over time. When we first started running banners in the late 1990's they were a novelty. The very first banner advertisement we ran was for an online casino, and folks were so intrigued and the concept was so unusual at the time that the banner we ran actually generated a 30% click through rate in the beginning.

We have generally tried to be relatively subdued in our use of banners. Most of the time we have only one or two banners on a page, and usually place them in relatively unobtrusive locations. For example, on the GPWA website within the forum we have a header and a footer banner on each page.

Michael

[edgarf76]

I use banners but stopped using them above the fold.

[Pokerface]

Stopped using and/or promoting banners some time ago.

[NoDepositCasinos]

I stopped using banners. I found them distracting, and their click-through rate was low and still decreasing.

[universal4]

I figured this thread would be active and provide a lot of varied answers and opinions.

I liked how Gooner provided a perspective I had not put a lot of thought into although, it is logical and I agree and have actually used a few banners over time for some of the same reasons.

A lot of sites I have worked on over past few few years rarely use banners on many cases except the occasional one off to make a point about a specific promotion or special.

I used the term "many" in my above statement since I still work on a few sites that do in fact use a few banners in the side bar or possibly along with a call to action near the bottom of a review or to make a promotional point.

Obviously the days of loading up pages with a lot of banners, or artwork in general I think can be more problematic.

One large drawback to using almost any banners is that many different ad blockers restrict even seeing the images on the page. Sadly this can lead to pages just not looking right.

One reminder for those that do still use banners, keep in mind scaling them for mobile is not always a simple task, but one you should consider.

Looking forward to seeing many more opinions on this.

Rick
Universal4

[onlinebetdotcom]

Only using banners as most b2b websites in this industry seem to always use. Planning to add some for paying sponsors.

[wonderpunter]

Not used banners in about 5 years perhaps 6..

[Cash Bonus]

I use banners in all of my sites and have been, for years. I have to keep changing and updating them, whenever necessary.

[mickyfu]

No, you get scammy affiliate programs desperately trying to find old banners of theirs on your sites for an excuse to terminate your account. Won't mention any names like Victor Chandler, dirty player thieves.

[annarosak]

I don't use banners. In Poland gambling advertisement is prohibited, so they could be placed on poor sites only and probably will be deleted after some time. It could be okay, but the prices are really high, so I don't use any banners, or other ad types, only SEO

[ocreditor]

Stopped using banners last year, it's actually improved the conversion