AS a result of advances in rotary press technology in the late 19th century, the cost of printing illustrations fell and advertisements began to include images. This was more than a change in graphic design — it was also “a shift from a culture of production and savings to one of consumption,” Mr. Norris said. “Ads now were designed to induce want.”
Google’s quiet text ads do not induce want — they don’t have the graphic palette and the room to do so. They can say only, “We have such-and-such goods in stock.” And that’s all I really want to know.