What Is the Display Network?
The Google Display Network, commonly abbreviated as the GDN, is a vast ecosystem of websites, apps, and digital properties that have agreed to show Google-served advertisements. It includes millions of news sites, blogs, video platforms, mobile applications, and Google-owned properties like YouTube and Gmail. When a business runs a Display Network campaign through Google Ads, their banner, image, or video ads are shown to users browsing content on these partner sites rather than to users actively searching on Google.
This distinction between passive browsing and active searching is the defining characteristic of Display Network advertising. Because users are not necessarily looking for your product at the moment an ad appears, Display advertising functions primarily as an interruption format. Success on the Display Network depends on reaching the right person at the right time with a compelling visual message that earns attention despite the competitive, content-heavy environments where the ads appear.
Google offers numerous targeting options for Display campaigns, including audience segments based on interests and demographics, custom intent audiences built from search behaviour, in-market segments for users actively researching a category, and remarketing lists that target users who have already visited your website. For South African businesses, the GDN includes major local publishers such as News24, IOL, TimesLIVE, and a broad range of mobile apps popular in the South African market.
The primary ad formats used on the Display Network are Responsive Display Ads and uploaded HTML5 or static image ads. Responsive Display Ads are the default and recommended format because they automatically adapt to the available ad slot size. Uploaded ads give more precise creative control but require producing multiple size variations and are shown only on placements that support those exact dimensions.
Display Network In Practice
The scenario below is an illustrative example, not a Juicy Designs client result. The outcomes described indicate the scale of effect that Display Network campaigns typically produce, so treat them as indicative rather than measured.
Picture a Johannesburg-based short-term insurance company that uses the Display Network for two distinct objectives. The first is a retargeting campaign targeting users who visited the quote page but did not complete a purchase. These users would see banner ads featuring the brand's trust signals and a message encouraging them to return and complete their quote. The retargeting audience is small but highly qualified, and a campaign of this kind could plausibly achieve a cost per acquisition well below the equivalent Search campaigns.
The second campaign is a brand awareness initiative targeting an in-market audience segment for vehicle insurance in Gauteng. These users would be shown prospecting ads across local news and finance websites. The awareness campaign's direct conversion rate would typically be lower than retargeting, as expected, but Search campaign brand query volume might rise noticeably during weeks when the Display budget is active, which would suggest that the GDN is creating uplift in direct and branded traffic. This combined measurement approach is how experienced South African agencies demonstrate the full value of Google Display advertising beyond last-click attribution.
How the Display Network works
The Google Display Network is a vast collection of websites, apps and Google properties such as YouTube and Gmail where visual ads, images, banners and video, can appear as people browse and use content, rather than search. Where search ads reach people actively looking for something, Display ads reach people during other activities, placing a brand in front of relevant audiences to build awareness and interest. Advertisers reach these audiences through targeting: by the content of pages, by audience characteristics and interests, by remarketing to past visitors, or by chosen placements. Because the audience is not actively searching, Display click-through and conversion rates are typically lower than Search, but its reach is enormous and its cost per impression low, which suits awareness, reach and remarketing goals rather than capturing immediate intent.
Targeting on the Display Network
Because Display ads reach people who are not searching, targeting is what makes them relevant rather than wasted. The main methods are: contextual targeting, placing ads on pages about relevant topics; audience targeting, reaching people by their interests, demographics or behaviours; remarketing, showing ads to people who previously visited your site, which is one of the most effective Display uses because it reaches warm prospects; and managed placements, choosing specific sites or apps. These can be combined and refined, and exclusions used to keep ads off unsuitable content. Good Display performance depends heavily on this targeting, since untargeted Display spreads spend across irrelevant impressions. Used with precise targeting, especially remarketing, the Display Network extends reach and reinforces a brand efficiently; used bluntly, its low costs can still add up to little return.
FAQ
When should I use the Display Network instead of the Search Network?
The Display Network is best for brand awareness, audience building, and retargeting. Use it when you want to reach users who are not yet actively searching for your product, or to stay visible to past website visitors. The Search Network is better for capturing existing demand. Most campaigns benefit from using both networks for different objectives.
Why are Display Network click-through rates lower than Search?
Display ads are shown to users who are browsing content, not actively searching for something specific. The intent gap means fewer users click through. Average CTR on the Display Network is typically below 0.5%, compared to 2-5% on Search. However, Display reaches far more people and can drive conversion uplift even without direct clicks, through brand awareness and recall.
When should you use the Display Network instead of the Search Network?
Use Display for awareness, reach and remarketing, putting a brand in front of relevant audiences as they browse, and Search for capturing people actively looking to buy. Display builds and reinforces demand; Search captures existing intent. Many campaigns use both, for different stages of the journey.