Stop Running Display Ads. Run These Three Things Instead.
Display CTRs averaged 0.05% in 2025. Here is what to do with that budget instead, ranked by efficiency.
The Honest Math on Display
Display Network ads averaged 0.05% CTR across the industry in 2025. Almost all clicks are bots, accidental thumb-fats, or curiosity tourists. View-through attribution inflates the apparent value.
Where That Money Should Go
1. Retargeting only on Display. The one display use case that actually works: re-serving warm visitors who saw your site in the last 14 days.
2. YouTube in-stream skippable. Better engagement, lower CPM than feed-based video.
3. Connected TV (CTV). For brands with $30K+ monthly ad budget, CTV is now competitive with Meta on cost per reached household.
What We Run For Clients
Zero pure display prospecting. Always paired with strict retargeting. Display lives or dies based on its frequency cap, audience source, and creative refresh cadence.