FEATURE: Bold revamp for banners - Advertisers are looking beyond the humble banner, leading to the creation of new and novel ad sizes online

<p>Fewer advertisers and sliding click through rates are prompting a </p><p>drastic rethink on the web's ubiquitous billboard as marketers look </p><p>beyond banner advertising for a more effective sell. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In place of the tried and failing banner, online media owners are </p><p>pumping up the hype. They are encouraging the kind of intrusive Las </p><p>Vegas-styled distractions in an effort to lure ad dollars amid the </p><p>current crunch hitting online advertising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>On a typical web page, the banner ad has commonly been squeezed into a </p><p>rectangular strip positioned at either the top or bottom of a page. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, with fewer advertisers taking an interest in the online banner, </p><p>web publishers are opting for braver, louder advertising to grab </p><p>consumer attention. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But can this latest initiative succeed now that surfers view the banner </p><p>with more disdain than interest? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>ACNielsen eRatings.com, managing director, Hugh Bloch, says the banner </p><p>has taken the brunt of the blame for the flattening growth in online </p><p>advertising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"My personal contention is that this has been somewhat unfair and that </p><p>the banner has been scapegoated and maligned more as a victim of </p><p>circumstance than as a result of any substantial and objective </p><p>evidence. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"That is, like any advertising, there are poor and good campaigns. Our </p><p>data is full of evidence that shows that like any advertising, creative </p><p>banners, properly targeted to the right audience on the right sites can </p><p>be extremely successful. If we take the most developed market from both </p><p>an online advertising and measurement perspective, the US, there is </p><p>evidence of many banners with click rates of well over 60 per cent, the </p><p>kind of 'response' rates that advertisers in other media can only dream </p><p>of," Bloch says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For the first time since 1996, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) in </p><p>the US has introduced new ad sizes. The idea is to bring out new online </p><p>ads that are bigger and bolder. More importantly, the new shapes and </p><p>sizes will be attractive enough to lure traditional advertisers to the </p><p>web. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The change is clearly a sign of the times. It comes as internet </p><p>companies try to survive the current lean times in online advertising, </p><p>which remains a crucial part of the ecommerce model. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The seven new ads introduced by the IAB include a skyscraper (120 x 600 </p><p>pixel); wide skyscraper (160 x 600); rectangle (180 x 150); medium </p><p>rectangle (300 x 250); large rectangle (336 x 280); vertical rectangle </p><p>(2,400 x 400); and square pop up (250 x 250). The ads are significantly </p><p>larger than the 468 x 60 banner. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For advertisers, the new ad sizes ring in good news. The additional </p><p>space will allow them to illustrate products in a more compelling </p><p>fashion. These virtual billboards will also allow users to click onto an </p><p>ad without linking to the advertiser's web page. But this in itself </p><p>presents an obstacle - an end to the clickthrough metric as an </p><p>indication of the web's advertising effectiveness (although media sites </p><p>argue this is an unjust measurement tool). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Research, says PricewaterhouseCoopers Asia-Pacific leader for </p><p>entertainment and media practice, Marcel Fenez, is another area for </p><p>improvement. Rather than measuring the effectiveness of online </p><p>advertising just by counting the number of viewers who click on an ad,he </p><p>says online publishers need to conduct more research that is commonly </p><p>done for other media. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The medium that can prove itself best through data will attract the </p><p>most ad dollars. Buyers need to understand the medium, but </p><p>unfortunately, not many understand the internet. At the end of the day, </p><p>it is still an education process. Ad buyers need reliability - third </p><p>party verification of data - to make spending worthwhile," says Fenez. </p><p>One way, he says, is measuring the non-immediate response to an ad, or </p><p>the number of people who see it, don't click on it, but visit the </p><p>advertised site at a later stage. Web publishers could also look at </p><p>measuring brand awareness. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Bloch agrees, "The beauty of the internet from an advertising or </p><p>marketing perspective is precisely that it is so easily measured and for </p><p>that matter, in real time. This real time feedback means that poor </p><p>campaigns can quickly be pulled and replaced with other better </p><p>performing ones without the possible wastage associated with other forms </p><p>of media. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"That said, it is true to say that not enough research has been done on </p><p>the effectiveness of online advertising, one of the reasons for its poor </p><p>perception. While high 'click rates' don't necessarily mean effective </p><p>advertising (that is, a publisher guaranteeing a near 100 per cent click </p><p>rate by offering one million dollars for every click), click rates do </p><p>confirm that a banner has been 'read' and 'acted upon'." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Bloch adds that single source panels such as those that combine retail </p><p>or television ratings panels with online measurement panels could offer </p><p>a way of directly assessing a campaign "with respect to whether or not </p><p>it leads directly or indirectly to an online or offline sale or to </p><p>'referral' to a particular site". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sadly, these systems do not as yet exist. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While the new ad sizes are designed to expand marketers' options in </p><p>online media, web publishers - the IAB acknowledges in a letter to </p><p>member companies - "will have to go through some site redesign if they </p><p>deploy the new units". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The bureau adds: "But we believe that adopting some of the larger, </p><p>interactive creative units will be for the betterment of publishers and </p><p>marketers." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, industry analysts argue that it is still a risky play. This </p><p>potential solution runs the risk of irritating internet users who - it </p><p>would seem - are likely to be put off by more prominent product pitches </p><p>on their screens. For consumers, it is a daunting thought. In the coming </p><p>weeks and months, they can expect to encounter ads that are about four </p><p>times the size of typical banners. There are also plans to offer a wider </p><p>array of location choices on a page. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to engage president, Colin McIntosh, the advertising agency </p><p>began using larger ad sizes about a year ago for clients such as Nokia </p><p>and Digital Island. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Publishers such as ZDNet in Singapore have been using larger ad formats </p><p>and have found them much more powerful for branding. It is always an </p><p>advantage to give media buyers and marketers different ad sizes and </p><p>formats, especially since advertisers in Asia continue to use online </p><p>advertising as a branding medium. Ultimately, larger formats will always </p><p>be welcome in the industry," says McIntosh. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Larger ad sizes, he adds, also enable greater creativity, which has been </p><p>one of the biggest criticisms of online banners. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Driving the development of new ad sizes is the belief that consumers no </p><p>longer pay attention to banner ads. Survey after survey indicates the </p><p>internet user is "bored" with the online banner and has "learned" to </p><p>block the banner from view. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The crux of the problem is that unlike television commercials or </p><p>newspaper ads, online advertisements have essentially failed to generate </p><p>sufficient revenues to sustain businesses reliant on ad dollars. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But despite all the excitement and the IAB's efforts to counter the ad </p><p>sales drought, advertisers remain slow to take to the new ads. A recent </p><p>Jupiter Media Metrix report found that while 25 per cent of ad-supported </p><p>websites experimented with larger online banner sizes, less than five </p><p>per cent of those sites ran ads that complied exactly with the new IAB </p><p>standards. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The researcher also found that the number of unique vertical internet </p><p>ads surged by almost 70 per cent in the fourth quarter as sites searched </p><p>for new ways to become more attractive to advertisers, who have been </p><p>disappointed with response rates to traditional horizontal banners. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But Bloch remains optimistic. He says the new ads are likely to create a </p><p>curiosity factor that will aid the effectiveness of the ads. "As with </p><p>advertising in magazines and on television, there will be some interest </p><p>in and tolerance of (more intrusive) advertising as a result of </p><p>consumers' understanding with respect to revenue models. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"However, over time, this is bound to wear off and advertisers and sites </p><p>will be forced by the market to take consumers' opinions on </p><p>intrusiveness into account, particularly with more intrusive forms of </p><p>advertising such as pop-ups or interstitials. Simply, if consumers find </p><p>the advertising overly intrusive, they will move to competitor </p><p>sites." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>McIntosh stresses the need for standardisation. This means that </p><p>advertisers can run their ads across multiple sites without having to </p><p>execute a different creative work for each placement. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The only setback is that with a larger file size, pages can be slow to </p><p>download for certain users. We're trying to standardise the larger ad </p><p>formats for our 400 publishers. But I think it will take some time," </p><p>McIntosh adds. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Since we started using the larger sizes, we have seen more innovation </p><p>among our clients who are keen to try other things. I think the </p><p>educational period has paid of. Traditional media buyers understand that </p><p>a full-page ad in print is better than a quarter page. This is something </p><p>that is logical and understandable to them." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce forum in Hong Kong, </p><p>Mercatela director, Joshua Goldman, dismissed reports suggesting the </p><p>banner is dead and is an ineffective tool to advertise or brand on the </p><p>internet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In 1997, banners made up 80 per cent of online advertising. Today, that </p><p>figure stands at 50 per cent. Online advertising is more than just </p><p>banners, but it is important to pick the right tools that are </p><p>appropriate for your objective, as well as to adopt the right </p><p>measurement tool," says Goldman. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He urged advertisers to move beyond the banner towards sponsorships, </p><p>buttons and interstitials to promote or brand online. However, he </p><p>stressed the importance of integrating online ads with offline </p><p>campaigns. "Previously, the response from banners as measured by click </p><p>throughs was five per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now it is at 0.5 per cent and the general response seems negative. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is partly the misrepresentation of click throughs - also the </p><p>novelty factor about banners has worn off, so people may not be clicking </p><p>on them as much. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Goldman cites the US IAB Ad Effectiveness Study/Millward Brown </p><p>Interactive report, which evaluates the impact of click throughs against </p><p>ad exposure on ad awareness. The study found that ad awareness after </p><p>clicking on an ad is at 44 per cent, while awareness without clicks is </p><p>only slightly lower at 43 per cent. "The increase from clicking on the </p><p>banner is slight, but overall 90 per cent of the gain from advertising </p><p>this banner was for it to be seen. This is still effective </p><p>branding." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Interestingly, a recent report by Myers found almost 85 per cent of US </p><p>advertising and marketing companies believed the most important reason </p><p>for using online advertising was to drive traffic to websites. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Myers found secondary reasons for advertising online included brand </p><p>building, branding and sponsorship opportunities. Meanwhile, web </p><p>publishers may have to come to terms with disgruntled consumers as they </p><p>feature oversized ads. Sina.com, the first Chinese portal to experiment </p><p>with "Messaging Plus Units" has been asking users of its website for </p><p>their understanding over giant online ads featured on heavily visited </p><p>web pages. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The animated ads were placed at the top or bottom of web pages in </p><p>prominent positions, giving the impression they were pictures or </p><p>articles to complement content. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Rich media, both McIntosh and Bloch say, is likely to emerge as the </p><p>saviour of internet advertising. While the IAB did shy away from </p><p>recommending standards on the use of rich media, publishers such as </p><p>internet.com have made new rich-media ad sizes ready. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Despite the subtle refinement still needed to the online banner, various </p><p>industry players agree the new, larger standardised ads should be easier </p><p>to design and easier to sell. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But it remains to be seen whether they will ultimately help publishers </p><p>boost flagging internet media revenues. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CLICK RATES ACROSS KEY ASIA-PACIFIC MARKETS (FEB) </p><p> Average Click Rate </p><p>Country for Top Banners Impressions Unique Audience Reach % </p><p>Australia 0.28% 508,755 104,373 2.30 </p><p>Hong Kong 0.78% 781,892 113,565 6.42 </p><p>South Korea 0.61% 6,635,920 941,709 7.00 </p><p>New Zealand 0.28% 215,977 40,591 4.27 </p><p>Singapore 0.32% 512,148 67,659 8.57 </p><p>Taiwan 0.32% 2,746,191 456,545 11.31 </p><p>Impressions - The total number of times a banner has been served to the </p><p>web population. </p><p>Any web surfer can view a banner many times. </p><p>Unique audience - The number of unique people that were served the </p><p>banner at least once in the defined time period. </p><p>Reach % - The number of unique web users that were served a web banner </p><p>at least once in the defined time period, expressed as a percentage of </p><p>the total web population. </p><p>* Data supplied by Nielsen//NetRatings. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>