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Increase Visibility & Engagement with these New Online Ad Units

May 19, 2009

Posted by: Kriszti Dragos in Digital

As a result of decreased online display ad spending combined with advertiser requests for more engaging and measurable online ad options, several large publishers are currently planning or beta-testing new online ad units to be rolled out later in the year.

• NYT, WSJ & ESPN will be introducing three markedly larger and potentially more invasive banner ads with rich media capabilities this summer. One unit will be a wider version of the standard skyscrapers following users as they scroll down the page. Another will be a 468-by-648-pixel box with expandable video option. The third planned is a pushdown unit taking up over half the page before rolling up. All three will provide the benefit of more visibility, interactivity and engagement.

• Google is testing expandable banner ads in Ad Sense, their network of 1000s of sites. These banners - which might stream a movie trailer, show video game clips, or display various views of an item for sale - are rich media ads that can expand beyond the original size of the ad unit, following a user-initiated action. This creates more real estate for the ad, allowing for more interaction from interested users. Click here for an example of this ad unit.

• Google is also beta testing expandable pay-per-click text ads in Adwords (called “Product PlusBox”). This feature will offer additional product data to users without driving them off Google’s search results page, providing deeper engagement and interaction. Click here for an example of this ad unit.

• Yahoo has been testing a new “Rich Ads in Search” offering, where advertisers can integrate characteristics of banner advertising into sponsored search ad placements, such as images and video. The goal is to provide a more engaging experience for advertisers and increase relevance, thus response. Click here for an example of this ad unit.

As higher percentages of total advertising budgets are funneled to online, we expect to see further online units emerge. Naturally, this creates excitement in the space but the surfacing of more invasive ads could be cause for concern. In the early part of the decade, for example, pop-up banners were heralded for generating response, but user outcry caused the unit to be discontinued. At Butler/Till, we refrained from recommending pop-ups for our clients realizing their high annoyance factor, and we’ll be sure to evaluate and watch the impact of these new ad units before recommending to clients.