Banner and display ads are the oldest format on the web, and still one of the biggest. But how many people actually see them, how often do they click, and what does a click cost compared with search? This page gathers the latest verified statistics on display ad spend, click-through rates, costs, viewability, banner blindness and fraud, with a link to the original source for every number.
Key display and banner ad statistics (2026)
- US display advertising grew 9.8% to $81.6 billion in 2025, 27.7% of all digital ad revenue.[1]
- Display ad click-through rates range from 0.12% (restaurants & food) to 0.40% (education).[4]
- Display clicks cost from $1.65 to $5.58, cheaper than the $5.42 average for search ads.[4][5]
- Only 67.9% of display ads are viewable, against 79.7% for video.[7]
- In an eye-tracking example, the ad-filled right rail got 0.8% of attention while taking up 25% of the content area.[8]
- Global ad revenue is forecast to reach $1.3 trillion in 2026, up 8.9%.[2]
- Programmatic buying is expected to account for more than four-fifths of digital ad investment in 2026.[3]
How much is spent on display advertising?
US display ad revenue grew 9.8% to $81.6 billion in 2025, 27.7% of the record $294.6 billion US digital ad market, according to the IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report.[1]
- Programmatic advertising, the automated buying that delivers most display ads, rose 20.5% to $162.4 billion in the US.[1]
- Globally, ad revenue is forecast to grow 8.9% to $1.3 trillion in 2026, according to WPP Media.[2]
- Alphabet, Meta and Amazon control 57.6% of the global ad market outside China.[2]
- Dentsu forecasts that digital will be 68.7% of global ad investment in 2026, and that programmatic will account for more than four-fifths of digital.[3]
- The fastest-growing digital channels in 2026 are retail media (+14.1%), online video (+11.5%) and social (+11.4%).[3]
What is the average click-through rate for display ads?
Display ad click-through rates range from 0.12% to 0.40% by industry, averaging about 0.22%, based on LocaliQ’s analysis of 7,074 display and video campaigns from April 2025 to June 2026.[4] That is roughly 2 clicks per 1,000 impressions.
Display ad click-through rate by industry
LocaliQ display & video benchmarks, April 2025 – June 2026 · scale 0–0.45%
Source: LocaliQ, Display & Video Ads Benchmarks 2026.[4] Average calculated by Netotraffic (simple mean of 18 industries).
How much do display ads cost per click and per lead?
Display ad clicks cost $1.65 to $5.58 depending on the industry, about $3.43 on average, cheaper than the $5.42 average for search ads. Cost per lead is higher: about $118 on average, against $66.69 for search.[4][5]
| Industry | CTR | Cost per click | Cost per lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animals & pets | 0.19% | $3.29 | $115.58 |
| Apparel / fashion & jewelry | 0.25% | $2.64 | $198.34 |
| Arts & entertainment | 0.27% | $2.56 | $230.44 |
| Attorneys & legal services | 0.24% | $2.89 | $120.30 |
| Automotive, for sale | 0.25% | $3.53 | $113.30 |
| Automotive repair, service & parts | 0.20% | $2.89 | $86.49 |
| Beauty & personal care | 0.15% | $5.58 | $115.58 |
| Business services | 0.25% | $3.35 | $149.90 |
| Dentists & dental services | 0.18% | $4.53 | $126.47 |
| Education & instruction | 0.40% | $1.65 | $106.70 |
| Finance & insurance | 0.25% | $3.32 | $85.63 |
| Home & home improvement | 0.19% | $3.49 | $65.37 |
| Industrial & commercial | 0.19% | $3.82 | $131.63 |
| Personal services | 0.19% | $3.67 | $67.36 |
| Physicians & surgeons | 0.22% | $3.25 | $117.92 |
| Real estate | 0.18% | $3.25 | $92.76 |
| Restaurants & food | 0.12% | $4.18 | $97.51 |
| Sports & recreation | 0.19% | $3.90 | $107.77 |
| Average (Netotraffic calculation) | 0.22% | $3.43 | $118.28 |
Source: LocaliQ, Display & Video Ads Benchmarks 2026, 7,074 campaigns on 350+ properties.[4] Averages are simple means of the 18 industries.
Are banner ads actually seen?
Often not. Only 67.9% of display ads worldwide meet the viewability standard (enough of the ad on screen for long enough), against 79.7% for video, according to Integral Ad Science.[7]
- Banner blindness is real: in a Nielsen Norman Group eye-tracking session, only 1 of 132 fixations in the content area landed on the ad-filled right rail, 0.8% of attention for 25% of the space, 33 times less than its size would suggest.[8]
- Mobile web display carries 45.1% of impressions but 71.9% of made-for-advertising (MFA) impressions and 71.5% of ad clutter.[7]
- In an eye-tracking study, consumers looked at native ads 53% more often than at display ads.[9]
- Adelaide’s attention benchmark for display ads is roughly 23.3 attention units, slightly above its native benchmark (about 20.2), so a good banner placement can hold attention as well as native (Netotraffic calculation from Nativo’s published figures).[10]
- 1.1 billion people (30% of internet users) use an ad blocker.[11]
How much display ad traffic is fake?
About 1 in 5. Pixalate measured a 20% invalid traffic rate on web programmatic ads worldwide in Q2 2026, and 25% in the US.[12]
- Desktop had the highest invalid traffic rate in programmatic ads in 2025, at 27.03%, against 19.30% on mobile.[13]
- Spending on made-for-advertising sites fell to just 0.39% of programmatic spend in Q3 2025, down by half since Q2.[14]
More in our Ad Fraud Statistics 2026.
How do display ads compare with search and native ads?
Display is the cheapest way to buy clicks and reach, but it has the lowest click rate and the highest cost per lead. Search converts intent; native sits in between.
| Metric | Display & video | Search |
|---|---|---|
| Click-through rate | ~0.22% | 6.64% |
| Cost per click | ~$3.43 | $5.42 |
| Cost per lead | ~$118 | $66.69 |
Sources: LocaliQ display benchmarks (averages calculated by Netotraffic), LocaliQ and WordStream search benchmarks.[4][5][6] For native, see our Native Advertising Statistics 2026.
How can you get more from display and banner ads?
Buy viewable, fraud-filtered impressions, design for the placement, and measure what happens after the click, not just the click rate.
- Buy on viewability: favor placements that are actually seen; avoid ad-cluttered pages.
- Filter invalid traffic, and exclude placements, apps and countries with poor engagement.
- Design to be noticed: clear text, strong contrast and a single message help ads escape banner blindness.
- Use display for reach and retargeting, and judge it on assisted conversions and engaged sessions in GA4.
- Tag every campaign with UTM parameters so banner traffic shows as its own source.
Want banner or native traffic you can measure?
Netotraffic delivers visitors through banner and native ad placements, trackable in GA4 with your own UTM tags. Read native ads vs banner traffic: which to use or see traffic plans.
Methodology and sources
We compiled statistics from industry revenue reports, agency ad-spend forecasts, campaign benchmarks, ad-verification firms and eye-tracking research, and checked every figure against its original source page on October 7, 2026. LocaliQ’s industry benchmarks cover display and video campaigns together; the averages shown are our simple means of its 18 industries. Some attention and eye-tracking studies are older, and we label them. Calculations marked “Netotraffic analysis” are our own and show the formula used.
We update this page every year. Last update: October 7, 2026.
If you use these statistics, please link to this page and mention Netotraffic.
Sources
- IAB / PwC (2026). Internet Advertising Revenue Report, Full Year 2025. iab.com
- WPP Media (2026). This Year Next Year 2026 Midyear Forecast. wppmedia.com
- Dentsu (2025). Global Ad Spend Set to Surpass $1 Trillion for the First Time in 2026. dentsu.com
- LocaliQ (2026). Display & Video Ads Benchmarks for 2026. localiq.com
- LocaliQ / WordStream (2026). Search Advertising Benchmarks for Every Industry. localiq.com
- WordStream (2026). Digital Benchmarks by Industry: PPC. wordstream.com
- Integral Ad Science (2026). 21st Media Quality Report. integralads.com
- Nielsen Norman Group (2018). Banner Blindness Revisited: Users Dodge Ads on Mobile and Desktop. nngroup.com
- Sharethrough / IPG Media Lab. Ad Effectiveness Study: Native Ads vs Banner Ads. sharethrough.com
- Nativo (2025). New Adelaide Research: Nativo Inventory Delivers 40% Higher AU Scores Than Industry Benchmarks. ads.life360.com
- eyeo (2026). 2026 Ad-Blocking Report (Q4 2025 data). eyeo.com (PDF)
- Pixalate (2026). Q2 2026 IVT & Ad Fraud Benchmarks, North America. pixalate.com
- Fraudlogix (2026). Ad Fraud Statistics 2026 (2025 data). fraudlogix.com
- ANA (2025). Q3 2025 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark. ana.net