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Some say that one of the first 🐾 ad trackers shifted focus to a ROI-based model back in 1996.
Online advertising used to be a bit of a guessing game. Advertisers had no way to track the performance of their banner ads and were forced to wait until a campaign was completed before analyzing results. That is until Doubleclick came along.
Doubleclick introduced 🎯 D.A.R.T. (Dynamic Advertising Reporting & Targeting), which allows advertisers to track how many times an ad was viewed and clicked across multiple websites. The most impressive feature of D.A.R.T. was the ability to make changes to a live campaign. If an ad was underperforming, advertisers could remove it and devote resources to a better-performing website.
Many believe that we need to thank Doubleclick’s innovative approach for online advertising pricing shifting towards a ROI-based model. Cost per impression (CPM) became the new norm, and advertisers could finally track the performance of their banner ads with greater ease and efficiency.
In 2007, Google bought Doubleclick for USD 3.1 billion and later incorporated and re-branded D.A.R.T. and other Doubleclick products to become the Google Ads in-house tracking tools.
Today, we take these tools for granted, but it’s important to remember the pioneers who paved the way for more effective online advertising.
What was the average CPM/CPC of your most bountiful campaign? Share your victories in the comments below.
