Re: Your take on the new IAB Standards

From: Rick Bruner <rick_at_bruner.net>
Date: Fri 13 Dec 2002 08:42:08 -0600

At 06:21 PM 12/12/2002, Brian Loudenslager wrote:
>Yesterday the IAB announced the Universal Ad Package (300x250, 180x150,
>160x600, 728x90) . I certainly think an industry standard is needed,
>however I was surprised they removed the 468x60. I wanted to get some of
>your thought's about the standard and specifically the removal of the
>468x60.

I think it's great the got rid of the standard banner. It showed guts. I
really respect the IAB under Greg Stuart's leadership. The organization has
totally come back to life since he took over and is asserting itself to
provide industry leadership. I think this is a great example of them doing
something really courageous at the certain risk of a lot of criticism from
people who will complain, as you point out that it will require people to
change their code:

>I agree that web surfers have become very immune to the 468x60 but with the
>introduction of flash and rich media these ad's have improved. The question
>is will the 468x60 really be phased out? Especially in the small mom-pop
>site's that would have to endure layout redesigns.

I think your prediction is exactly right, that it will mostly be
mom-and-pops where you'll see the lingering banners. According to some of
the reporting I've seen on this, already a number of big sites are lining
up behind the new standards. The banner is such a painful legacy of the
dullest aspect of web advertising that I think it is high time the industry
buried it, and I for one applaud the IAB for its courage to put it on the
line like this.

As a software maker, I wouldn't suggest you purge support for the banner
entirely, as there will be a transition period for many sites, but you
definitely need to quickly adopt all the new templates, as I'm sure you'll
see them widely adopted soon. I think most of the industry agrees with me
that Greg Stuart is providing great leadership, and I confidently predict
most major players will happily and quickly fall in line.

For a roundup of stories about this and other comments, check out my
MarketingFix post on the subject:
http://www.marketingfix.com/archives/iab_introduces_newold_ad_formats.php#000365

Rick


Rick E. Bruner, Executive Summary Consulting, Inc.
http://executivesummary.com
Internet marketing and media consulting, research, analysis
Co-author: "Net Results: Best Practices for Web Marketing"
rick_at_e-summary.com 646 554-0963 New York, NY
Also, daily Net marketing news: http://marketingfix.com
& personal ranting about nothing: http://bruner.net/blog





Received on Fri Dec 13 2002 - 08:42:08 CST