How smart are "smart banners"?

Smart banners, or keyword-activated banners that are tied to internet user search keywords, are becoming increasingly popular with major search engine s and their advertisers. Understanding how smart banners work best is a cha llenge facing the online advertising industry. This paper examines how spec ificity in the meaning of search keywords may affect the accuracy of banner matches. Through analysis of banner matches obtained from 12 major search engines, the authors found that as search keywords became more specific, se arch engines returned fewer exact banner matches and more general banner ma tches. Implications of these findings for search engines and their advertis ers are discussed.