Online advertisers get a new uniform

A group of internet heavyweights, including AOL, MSN and Yahoo!, hopes to go some way to simplifying the complicated business of online advertising by promoting a uniform set of on-the-page ad sizes.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau on Wednesday backed a '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.

By promoting a uniform set of on-the-page ad sizes, the IAB hopes to simplify the buying and creative development process for agencies and advertisers, thereby mirroring mature markets such as print and TV.

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.

In a recent report, industry research company eMarketer forecast slight annual growth in online ad sales for 2003, to $6.7bn from an estimated $6.38bn this year.

Jupiter Research predicts online ad spending will hit $6.2bn in 2003, an 11 per cent jump from $5.6bn this year.

Another area of growth 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. Rich-media ads will make up more and more overall advertising spending over the next five years, according to Jupiter Research. In 2003, it will take up eight per cent of advertising dollars, growing to an estimated 22 percent in 2007.

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.

Adam Gerber, chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies' interactive committee, which endorsed the guidelines, said: "The Universal Ad Package will result in a stronger, more unified creative palette and will make it simple to reach a majority of the Internet audience."

Stefanie Olsen writes for News.com