OPA unveils flashier ad campaign

Posted by Emily Dilling on March 13, 2009 at 9:53 AM

The Online Publishers Association plans to introduce three new display units which are hoped to liven up their online ads, reports paidContent.org.

The units include features such as a "fixed panel," which scrolls up and down a Web page along with the user, an "XXL Box" which is not only extra large but also permits the user to turn pages within the ad, and a "pushdown" which initially fills up half the screen and then rolls up to the top. The units are designed to allow advertisers to display their ads in a more creative way, but also to provide publishers with increased revenue from fewer ads.

Publishers will have to be wary about the new ad designs and whether they are too attention grabbing because, according to a survey by Opinion Matters and Howto.tv, 59 percent of users said they had stopped visiting a site because of obtrusive or irrelevant ads, paidContent reported.

OPA President Pam Horan compares the new displays to television advertisements.

"If you look at what marketers have always tried to accomplish on TV and in print to drive brand awareness, the same opportunity exists online. We haven't scratched the surface with regard to display," she said, according to paidContent.