Rich Media Advertising

Over the past year or so web sites have become a haven for cluttered banner advertising. Everywhere you look lie banner ads, and if you’ve been online long enough, chances are you’ve “banner blindness” and become immune to these little distractions. Advertisers know this too, and are not taking this problem lightly. The latest thing they’ve been working on is to get Internet users to not only just click-thru on an advertisement… but also to experience it.

Their solution? Advertising known as “rich media.” Rich media basically describes an advertisement that uses advanced technology (streaming audio and/or video or programs such as Flash or Java, for example) to heighten interactivity between user and the advertiser at the time the advertisement is served. Rich media pushes the creative boundaries and the results have been impressive. Higher levels of innovation and interactivity result in a higher click-thru percentage and brand awareness.

Another benefit to rich media ads is that it doesn’t force the user to leave the site. That means not having to interrupt what might be a pleasant online experience only to be taken elsewhere (a large reason why folks are no longer clicking on ads). For site owners, this is a plus, too, because it keeps their site traffic around for a longer period of time.

What are some of the methods used in building user activity in these ads? The simplest of the rich media ads utilize drop-down menus or search boxes for users to select an option or key in text. For example, Northern Light, a search engine, rich media ad may have a search box which then delivers their search results right in the ad itself. How about the “punch the monkey” ad? Have we all seen that?

With rich media, the possibilities are endless:

* You can play games such as golf or PONG on a banner ad
* You can make purchases directly on the ad or sign up for a newsletter without even leaving the publisher’s site (a big positive for the site owner)
* You can play a trivia contest that leads to discounts off of merchandise
* You can expand a standard banner ad into a larger ad with greater surface area on which to transact
* Streaming real audio and video that create mini-movies in pop-up browser windows known as “interstitials” or “superstitials”

As with any new trend or technology rich media has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages, as stated before, are higher click-thru, brand building and traffic retention. There are several flaws:

* Not all Internet users have cable modems, T-1 lines, and total broadband capabilities. With lower capacity lines — like common, everyday dial-up access — the load time for rich media advertisements can take forever.
* Not all users can actually see rich media ads. If, for whatever reason like browser incompatibility, a user cannot view the rich media ad, some companies will employ a filtering system and serve a regular banner ad instead.
* Certain web sites — Yahoo, for example — won’t accept rich media ads because they do occupy more bandwidth.

Still, rich media ad are pretty cool. If you want to view some in action, here are some examples (Remember, if you’re using a dial-up modem, have patience. These banners might take a while to load):

Tanqueray ad featuring a nine hole golf course game located on the advertisement

A WWF Stone Cold Jakks (expandable ad)

Nissan generating buzz and interest in its new “mystery car”

Bounty, the Quicker Picker Upper

Toss the Wedding Network Bridal Bouquet

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