Re: Pop-up Windows Embedded in Banner Ads

From: V. Campbell <v.campbell_at_websponsorzone.com>
Date: Thu 21 Dec 2000 10:56:30 -0500

LOREN BAKER <loren_at_webadvantage.net> WROTE:
> Have any of you encountered the banner ads which, when
> served, are automatically launching daughter windows.

I'm running a couple of them on one of my sites
right now.

> We've found them on sites mostly served by
> Engage/Flycast.

At least a couple of other CPM networks are doing them,
as well. Probably a reaction to the general trend of
falling CTRs for standard banners.

> We find these pop-ups incredibly intrusive and
> annoying,

Frankly, the word that comes to my mind, as a small
publisher, is "desperate," and I suppose that includes
me, as well, for being willing to run them. I
certainly do worry about annoying the visitors, and
trying to balance that with the need for revenue.

> but I'd like to hear some other opinions,

I would *only* run pop-ups that are *very* relevant to
the content of the site. (Unfortunately, I am getting
a run-of-network rate at the moment, rather than a
targeted rate.)

Another option is a newer idea called a "pop-under."
When the visitor arrives, the javascript daughter
window opens, but then the focus then changes back to
the main site window, so that the smaller ad window is
placed *behind* it. The idea is that the visitor will
view the ad after they have closed the main window, or,
if they notice before then, it will still be perceived
as less obtrusive, since it isn't quite slapping them
in the face like a regular pop-up does as they are
arriving and trying to see the site content. There is
a cookie sent to the visitor to prevent them from
getting more than one pop-under during a single visit,
even if they click around to other pages within the
site that also have the pop-under code on them.

I am running pop-unders that are run-of-network, and
aren't especially relevant to the site in question.

You can see an example at http://www.cardreport.com/

> and also effective rates,

The networks I use say that pricing info is
proprietary, and that publishers can't give out
numbers. So I'll just say that it is higher - like a
few times the average for the regular run-of-network
banners. Although I've had a pop-up campaign where the
CPM was *not* that much higher, but then the rate was
raised, perhaps to convince more publishers to run it.

I'll also say that I don't like these types of ads from
either perspective (visitor or publisher), and, when
surfing, I often tend to just close pop-ups before they
even fully load.

--V. Campbell

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Received on Thu Dec 21 2000 - 09:56:30 CST