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To: Brasco One who wrote (6514)	2/26/2001 12:57:52 PM
From: Triffin	Respond to of 19633

OT .. a bad idea .. As if those 'banner ads' were'nt annoying enough .. Online ads need to get bigger, trade group says By Reshma Kapadia NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Web surfers will soon find many sites with online advertisements that are bigger and -- sponsors hope -- harder to ignore after a trade group set voluntary standards on Monday for larger Web ads as Internet media companies try to combat slower online ad spending. The standards reflect the growing belief that online advertising needs to be reinvented as Internet companies examine marketing expenses against the backdrop of Wall Street's calls for profits. The online advertising industry is also trying to convince more traditional advertisers to venture online. ``The goal of the Ad Unit Task Force is to help publishers, advertisers and their agencies make the Internet a more effective marketing medium,'' said Richy Glassberg, vice chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Phase2Media chairman and chief executive. ``We believe that their wide adoption will create a more effective medium, for cohesive branding and direct marketing campaigns.'' Amid growing dissatisfaction with traditional banner ads, the bureau set out guidelines for seven new ad units. There are two vertical units and five rectangular horizontal units -- all larger than the banner ads that have become familiar to Web users. Members of the bureau, including AOL Time Warner Inc.'s(NYSE:AOL - news) AOL, Yahoo Inc.(NasdaqNM:YHOO - news), DoubleClick Inc.(NasdaqNM:DCLK - news) and ExciteAtHome Corp.(NasdaqNM:ATHM - news), hope the bigger ads will re-energize the online advertising industry. Web sites have been looking for ways to become more attractive to advertisers, who have been disappointed with response rates to Internet banner ads. The bulked-up Web ads will take up much more space on a Web page than current banner ads, which typically run across a narrow section at the top of a page -- 234-by-60 pixels for a half banner or 468-by-40 pixels for a full banner. The larger units include a square pop up that is 250-by-250 pixels and a so-called ``skyscraper unit'' that measures 120-by-600 pixels. Larger ads will also allow marketers to make their online message more creative and more interactive. Several Internet media companies have already embraced larger ads, including technology news provider CNET Networks Inc. said earlier this month that such ads would also be appearing on its Web sites. Walt Disney Internet Group (NYSE:DIG - news) has also been using larger ads. The guidelines for some of the new units may require publishers to redesign parts of their Web sites, Glassberg added. While it's good that publishers are experimenting with new types advertising, Jupiter Media Metrix analyst Marissa Gluck said the new units may be missing the point. ``The strength of the Internet is not creative. It's never going to be able to compete with TV or magazines. The strength is (its ability) to target segment audiences and show or demonstrate a return on investment,'' Gluck said. ``Bigger doesn't mean better.'' The Internet research firm expects 19 percent of online advertising to be comprised by ads rich in multimedia content such as graphics and music, such as some of the bigger units of advertising already seen on some publisher's sites such as Cnet. Jim in CT ..@I-can-hardly-wait.com