How the store was filled, year by year.
Explore History of advertising
A timeline of the moments that changed how advertising and marketing reach people, from the first agency to the first AI answer. Who invented advertising, when the first commercials ran, and what each change did.
1841. Who invented the advertising agency
Volney Palmer opened the first US ad agency in 1841, paid by the newspapers. How that commission shaped agencies to the Mad Men era, and what replaced it.
1922. The first paid radio commercial
On 28 August 1922 a property firm paid WEAF $50 to talk about apartments. What radio's first thirty years say about sponsoring a show versus buying the spot.
1941. The first television commercial
The $9 Bulova spot of 1 July 1941 created the paid TV unit. Why it took thirty years, a scandal and a tobacco ban to become the 30-second spot you buy today.
1960. The 4 Ps of marketing are published
1960: McCarthy's four Ps and Levitt's Marketing Myopia turned marketing into a taught discipline, and left the agency holding one box out of four.
1972. The Positioning Era Cometh
In April 1972 Ries and Trout told Advertising Age the battleground had moved to the prospect's mind. What Avis, Volkswagen and 7-Up had proved, and what to do now.
1994. The first banner ad
HotWired ran the first banners on 27 October 1994. What the 44 per cent click rate and the fall to 0.1 per cent mean for your display budget.
2000. Google launches AdWords
In October 2000 Google let any business buy a search query. The AdWords record, the auction, the commission it bypassed, and what to do with it.
2022. ChatGPT is released
ChatGPT, 30 November 2022: the day the answer replaced the results page. What the record shows, what it changed for brands, and what to do on Monday.