An article written by Nicholas Carlson was featured on BusinessInsider.com yesterday, marking 15 years since the debut of banner ads as we know them. The banner ad, “born” on October 27, 1994, first premiered on Hotwired.com featuring offers from Volvo, AT&T, MCI, Club Med, Zima and 1-800 collect.

Frank D’Angelo, founder and partner of CL&S, the ad agency behind a few of the original banner ads, wrote on Adage.com yesterday that one of the first banners obtained an astonishing 78% click-through rate. But click-through rates have declined since then, and so have banner ads’ relevance. ComScore claims that only a mere 8% of all Internet users account for 85% of all banner ad click-throughs. What’s more, these ‘clickers’ tend to be from lower income levels, and generally have less education than other web users..

This at first came as dire news to publishers who have been convinced over the past 15 years that click-through rates were a strong metric for determining whether or not users were engaging with their ads. But to Carlson, perhaps the death of the click and the banner is welcomed news. If nothing else, it is encouraging publishers to re-evaluate what actually makes a good online ad. Carlson isn’t disappointed. He says, “let’s face it, the banner is a lousy form of advertising.” The following are his major reasons why banner ads are losing out, or are no longer relevant:

• They can’t tell a story.
• They can’t be engaging without being interrupting and obnoxious.
• They’re scalable, but doesn’t feel “premium” in the way the back of a magazine can.
• They’re dependent on clicks.
• They’re loaded with baggage from the Web’s early spam-infested days

via Nicholas Carlson @ Business Insider