Just when you thought Web advertising was at a respectable size, we now get hit with the news that the Interactive Advertising Bureau has today, backed the "Universal Ad Package," which includes a new large ad size, as well as three sizes the bureau had previously recommended, which occupy broad space on a Web page.
The IAB is laying the ground work for uniformity at a time when online ad spending projections for the coming year appear positive, yet modest. Despite the somewhat mixed forecasts of 2002 and onwards, new research released Wednesday paints a rosier picture for online advertising when it comes to the buying habits of select clients.
Industries including human resources, computers and office equipment, publishing and retail have shifted a greater portion of their advertising dollars to the Internet in the last year. For example, in the first quarter of 2002 the employment sector allocated an estimated 41 percent of its $28 million in advertising funds to the Web, according to research from DoubleClick and Nielsen/NetRatings" AdRelevance. Retailers spent nearly 15 percent of their $3 billion-plus budgets online in the first quarter of the year.
An area of growth that has seen some "advancements" is in rich-media advertising, which includes graphical animations, audio and video in the form of floating, overlay and full-page ads that interrupt the requested page. Floating ads atop Web pages are the most popular format among online publishers.
Many such rich-media ads complement or play within those endorsed by the IAB. The group set guidelines for four ads. They include a wide-length banner that spans the top of a page, which is new; a skyscraper set off to the right or left; a large square box set in the middle of a Web page; and a smaller square unit. Each can display 15-second animations.