europeforvisitors - 2:06 am on May 13, 2004 (gmt 0)

Given the poor CTR of graphical banner ads, don't you assume that most sites in the content network would opt out of this and continue showing the text ads?

I'm a publisher, and I used "theme"-targeted affiliate banners in the pre-AdSense days. Clickthrough rates were a bit lower than I'm getting with AdSense, but again, the ads didn't have the degree of targeting that I get with AdSense ads. I'd expect targeted ads to do pretty well.

Don't forget, the vast majority of display banners, skyscrapers, buttons, etc. are run-of-network ads. Go to a site like MSNBC or Washingtonpost.com, and you're likely to see ads for things like credit cards and mortgages. Go to About.com, and you're likely to see ads for dating services. Such mass-market RON ads are a far cry from banners for cruises on a cruise page or skyscrapers for orthotics in an article about foot pain.