In October 1994, 15 Years ago this month, the web saw its first display banner go live! The campaign was placed on HotWired.com and featured a 468×60 banner with the line of copy ‘Have you ever clicked your mouse here? You will!’. Six of the magazine’s clients took part in the first campaign: MCA (telecom), Volvo (auto), Club Mes (travel), AT&T (telecom), Zima (softdrink) and 1-800-Collect (telecom). The site, which no longer exists, was part of Wired magazine and was the first commercial web magazine to attract online advertising.

It was the beginning of an industry that has grown to become a €16 billion worldwide industry today. The world of online advertising was different back then, there were no adservers or ad networks as we know them today. The advancements within the industry over the past 15 years; from rich media capabilities, conversion tracking, to DIY online advertising on Google have been nothing short of phenomenal. This first campaign is said to have delivered an astounding CTR of 78%! Maybe we should go back to basics
Source: Adage