At this point, most people know about banner ads and Google AdWords, etc. Banner ads ruled the first decade of the Internet boom, and let's be honest-they're still around on various popular websites.

Banner ads remain because they were standard for so long that many businesses are having a hard time letting go of them, even as it's clear that website owners are increasingly annoyed with having them clutter up their sites. Sure, they like the revenue, but they're not as crazy about what they do to the aesthetics.

Google AdWords is a flexible, yet targeted approach. Unlike with banner ads, you're not picking a website where you want to advertise-you're actually choosing which search terms you want triggering your ads in hopes that you catch your audience and convince them that your business will deliver the goods on their search. This is great, but you're limited by Google's restrictions on characters, images, and even punctuation.

So how do you present a great ad without getting tuned out by your audience or creating an eyesore in the middle of someone's web design?

Increasingly, businesses are experimenting with native advertising, which is advertising that basically mimics the content of the website it inhabits. The user is less jarred by its presence and automatically knows how to interact with the ad. And when done well, the user is not opposed to spending some time reading the ad's text. The key is to make sure your ad is paired up with a website that is likely to have your business's potential or existing customers as users.

As always, there is more than one way to market or advertise. And with the Internet, it's an industry that is fast-evolving and always pushing forward. If you need some advice on how best to use your online marketing dollars, Trifecta can help.