For example, the search engine sites have consistently been at the top of the most popular ad sites' lists because advertisers seek to capture a large audience -- thereby delivering as many "eyeballs" and "impressions" as possible -- instead of targeting specific audience segments. Sometimes, the ad placement is a bit more specific through matching "keyword" searches or choosing specific categories within a search engine/directory site, but this is a far cry from the direct one-to-one relationship that proponents of the Internet have promised and hyped. Advertisers and agencies are pushing the sites to do more in terms of enabling this direct relationship.

But what should advertisers expect from banner ads which are vehicles for moving visitors from one site to another? Agencies can include incentives and cool animation but banners are essentially billboards. In this sense, advertisers are still relying on ad development in traditional media to provide examples for the Internet. A lot of banner development today (e.g., targeting tools and the use of Java to animate) seems like a process of tweaking an essentially limited ad method. It’s not innovative and it’s not unique to the Internet. This is where the alternatives to banner advertising come in.