{"id":689,"date":"2025-10-20T21:20:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T21:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/?p=689"},"modified":"2025-10-20T21:55:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T21:55:01","slug":"display-ads-are-declining-whats-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/display-ads-are-declining-whats-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Display Ads Are Declining. What&#8217;s Better?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"689\" class=\"elementor elementor-689\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7ed6676e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7ed6676e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-65f8161a elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"65f8161a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Display ads are declining. What's better?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4db61761 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4db61761\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6e61183b elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6e61183b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Remember when websites assumed your attention was currency? The basic model was simple:<\/p><p>Search \u27a1\ufe0f Click \u27a1\ufe0f Ad Impression<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2595991b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2595991b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84bd9d4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"84bd9d4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"407\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/newspaper-cropped.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-692\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/newspaper-cropped.png 407w, https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/newspaper-cropped-300x177.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ebcb4d2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"6ebcb4d2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-437d4679 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"437d4679\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Display advertising was a flawed compromise from the start. Users tolerated intrusive banners (and even the dreaded pop-up) while publishers and advertisers pretended that dismal click-through rates were acceptable. That fragile ecosystem is now collapsing.<\/p><p>Why display ads are failing faster than ever:<\/p><ul><li>AI chatbots are extracting and delivering information without users ever visiting a site<\/li><li>Ad blockers are now mainstream, with adoption rates exceeding 40% among key demographics<\/li><li>Revenue from banner ads has declined annually since 2021<\/li><li>Attention spans continue to shrink<\/li><\/ul><p><br \/>The fundamental model of monetizing attention through interruptive advertising never put the user\u2019s needs first.<br \/><br \/>I&#8217;ve studied media companies successfully navigating this shift, and they&#8217;re pursuing three core alternatives:<\/p><ul><li>Community value: Brands like Reddit, Letterboxd, and Fandom have built models around specialized communities that thrive on interaction, not just content consumption<\/li><li>Functionality value: Tools and interactive experiences (fantasy leagues, shopping companions, personalized financial calculators) that can&#8217;t be replicated in a chat interface<\/li><li>Experience value: Premium video, immersive storytelling, and curated content journeys that deliver more than just information<\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>The companies that are winning today are not selling eyeballs to advertisers. They are selling genuine value to users who will pay either directly or through their loyalty.<\/p><p><br \/>Are you still clinging to outdated monetization methods? What\u2019s stopping you from building something more valuable to your users and more defensible from AI?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eb772c3 e-grid e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"eb772c3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-56e5e67 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"56e5e67\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Previous Post: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/seo-is-dying-do-you-know-what-comes-next\/\">SEO is dying. Do you know what comes next?<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-601585b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"601585b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Next Post:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/chat-is-the-new-interface-are-you-ready\/\"> Chat is the new interface. Are you ready?<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Display ads are declining. What&#8217;s better? Remember when websites assumed your attention was currency? The basic model was simple: Search \u27a1\ufe0f Click \u27a1\ufe0f Ad Impression Display advertising was a flawed compromise from the start. Users tolerated intrusive banners (and even the dreaded pop-up) while publishers and advertisers pretended that dismal click-through rates were acceptable. That [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":761,"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689\/revisions\/761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thoughtmemory.ai\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}