How the Google Display Network works
Website and app owners join through Google AdSense and AdMob and are paid for showing ads. Advertisers create display campaigns in Google Ads and choose who should see their ads, by audience, topic, keyword, placement or remarketing list. Google places the ads where those people are browsing.
Display Network vs Search Network
The Search Network shows text ads to people who are searching. The Display Network shows visual ads to people while they read, watch or play, often before they are actively looking. That makes display better suited to awareness and remarketing, while search is usually better for capturing existing demand.
Display Network example
A tent maker adds a placement list to its display campaign: three camping blogs, a hiking forum and a YouTube channel about outdoor gear. It also excludes mobile games and a few sites with poor content. Over a month it compares the placements, keeps the ones with sales and drops the rest. The ads now reach camping fans where they read, at a fair cost per sale.
Targeting options on the Display Network
- Audiences: affinity, in-market, custom and your own lists.
- Contextual: keywords and topics of the pages where ads appear.
- Placements: specific sites, apps and YouTube channels.
- Remarketing: people who visited your site or app.
- Demographics and locations: age, income, region and language.
Display Network mistakes
- Leaving all placements open and never checking where ads appear.
- Using the Display Network with a search-only mindset and expecting the same conversion rate.
- Not excluding apps and low-quality sites.
- Using weak or stretched images.
Display Network FAQs
How is it different from the Search Network?
The Search Network shows text ads to people searching. The Display Network shows visual ads while people browse.
How do publishers get on it?
Through AdSense and AdMob. See ad networks and display campaigns.