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The World's First Banner Ad

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the it-didn't-need-to-blink dept.

An anonymous reader submitted a link to what they claim is the the internet's first banner ad. It comes from 1994 HotWired, paid for by AT&T. It's ugly, but no animation, no popups. It makes me a little nostalgic.

5 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. um by theCat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it goes to a joke site. Can we get some verification of the authenticity of this? Anyone from the old HotWired days want to comment?

    --
    =^..^= all your rodent are belong to us
  2. Hey Taco by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If animation bothers you so much, why do you allow it on your own site?

    Anyone else remember when Hemos and CmdrTaco violently swore Slashdot would never have Flash ads?

  3. 10 years later... by wombatmobile · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Google honed the concept of relevance in advertizing with unobtrusive text ads.

    Secret sauce: relevance

    Result: Profits and a market cap of $130B

    Compare this with the fate of the company that paid for that first banner ad...

    1. Re:10 years later... by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Unfortunately, where I live, we don't have 45mph EZ Pass lanes.

      That didn't stop me from trying, after one of my friends told me that they'll still work at a healthy speed.

      Did it a few times... until I started getting pissed off letters in the mail telling me to slow the F down.

      Moral of the story: Just because they work at 35mph, doesn't mean you can ignore the 10mph posted limit.

      Kind like flashing banners: Just because you can make them, doesn't mean you should.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  4. Funny by Back+Slider+1969 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The world's first banner ad links to the world's worse joke. Interesting.