15世紀初,“書面聲明引起(某事物的)注意,公告”(關於任何事情,但通常是關於銷售的); 來自古法語 avertissement(15世紀,後來被拼寫爲 advertissement,這種變化在法語中被拒絕,但在英語中被接受),來自 avertir 的詞幹“轉向,指導,使意識到”(見 advertise)。主要現代意義“在報紙或其他出版物上的公告(通常是付費的)”於1580年代出現,並在18世紀得到充分發展; 後來擴展到網站。
Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused, and it is therefore become necessary to gain attention by magnificence of promises and by eloquence sometimes sublime and sometimes pathetick. Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. I remember a washball that had a quality truly wonderful—it gave an exquisite edge to the razor! ... The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement. [Johnson, "The Idler," Jan. 20, 1758]
廣告現在如此之多,以至於它們被非常疏忽地閱讀,因此有必要通過承諾的壯麗和有時崇高有時激動人心的雄辯來引起注意。承諾,大承諾,是廣告的靈魂。我記得有一種洗臉球,它有一種真正神奇的品質——它可以給刮刀一個 an exquisite edge to the razor! ... 廣告貿易現在已經接近完美,很難提出任何改進。[約翰遜,“懶漢”,1758年1月20日]