B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Cannes Lions
  • WPP
  • State of Origin
  • NRL
  • Pinterest
  • B&T Women in Media
  • Thinkerbell
  • AFL
  • imaa
  • Anthony Albanese
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Meta
  • AI
  • Foxtel
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Looking Back On 25 Years Of Digital Advertising
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Advertising > Looking Back On 25 Years Of Digital Advertising
AdvertisingTechnology

Looking Back On 25 Years Of Digital Advertising

Staff Writers
Published on: 28th June 2019 at 10:14 AM
Staff Writers
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

When AT&T launched the first-ever digital banner ad on Wired in 1994, it’s hard to believe anyone knew what had just been created.

“Have you ever clicked your mouse right HERE? YOU WILL,” the ad boasted.

And they did. A significant 44 per cent of users exposed to the “You Will” campaign went on to click onto the AT&T website.

Despite a 44 per cent click-through rate now being relatively unheard of, digital advertising has soared over the past quarter of a century.

Speaking at Adobe Symposium 2019 in Sydney on Thursday, Adobe head of AdCloud APAC Phil Cowlishaw gave a ‘then and now’ analysis of the digital advertising world.

“The world has fundamentally changed for marketers and consumers,” he said.

The 44 per cent click-through rate AT&T has now dropped to an average of 0.05 per cent, Cowlishaw pointed out, while investment in digital advertising is up 2,528 per cent from 1999, with the majority (44 per cent) of expenditure now in search.

“In digital advertising paid search is incredibly measurable,” said Cowlishaw. “You serve an ad, the user clicks on it, they navigate to your website and you’re able to drive the ROI.”

Change in consumer behaviour 

“Everything that we do today is about choice and control,” he said. “We choose to watch what content and when we watch it, what medium we watch it on.”

Almost 50 per cent of Australians now bypass linear TV and access their content by connected TV, while 13.6 million listen to digital audio.

And this is changing the way digital advertisers operate.

Scripted content is today more popular than ever and the consumers now expect a personalised experience.

“This shift – and digital enables us to do this – is a shift from advertiser-led, so mass medium like TV, to consumer-centric,” he said.

“One to one transformational experiences, at scale, delivered with velocity enabling people to be able to really connect.

Balancing privacy

But even with the expectation of personalisation, consumers care about their privacy more than ever.

“You’ve got the rise of privacy and privacy challenges, and what that has really created is a significantly more aware population of what is happening and how brands are using their data,” said Cowlishaw.

‘Cookies’, which track consumer behaviour and collect data, have been a topic of discussion in recent times.

Web browser Firefox recently started blocking third-party cookies by default, while Google Chrome is believed to be making similar changes in the space.

“When you think about the shift from cookie-based advertising and cookie-based tracking, the laws and the changes, especially GDPR, have all been about consumer consent and consumer control,” Cowlishaw said.

“The cookie isn’t just going to vanish overnight, what it is all about is enabling consumers to have a lot more control about what is happening with their data and how they’re being tracked.”

The result could be consumers engaging with brands on a case by case basis.

A recent Adobe study found 56 per cent of Australians opt out of sharing their personal data with some of the brands they engage with.

And this could soon become the norm in digital advertising.

Cowlishaw predicted that consumers will be willing to engage “beyond the cookie” on a brand-by-brand basis.

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Advertising, AT&T, Chrome, Digital, Google
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

Telstra Launches One-Off Ad During State Of Origin Decider
11/07/2025
Clemenger BBDO Sydney office.
Agency Scorecard: Clemenger BBDO
11/07/2025
Matt Coote.
Matt Coote Takes New Senior Role At GumGum
11/07/2025
Spenser Skates.
Amplitude Acquires Kraftful To Embed AI-Native Voice Of Customer Capabilities
11/07/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?