Re: Text Banner Standards: Isn't it about time?

From: Danny Sullivan <danny_at_calafia.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 05:47:37 -0600 (CST)

Excellent idea from Andy on the idea of email text ad
standards. I'm surprised this hasn't come up before now.

+ Width: Andy says 60 characters, and I'd agree.

+ Lines: Andy suggested 4, 7 and 12 lines or the option to
offer all three. The standard would be better if we settled
on one option. I'd say 7 maximum sounds like a good option.

However, we could support three sizes, with the standard
being that advertisers would pay more depending on the size
of their ads. How much more would vary by publication, of
course. But the main thing is that there would indeed be
some sort of standardization -- advertisers would know that
there were three options generally available, with more text
costing more money.

+ Border: I agree that it should be standard to have a
border around an ad, above and below. That in itself is a
standard. It would probably be better if we all settled on
standard border style, though I'd still prefer to do things
my own way -- as I suspect other email publishers would. For
example, my existing border in the Search Engine Report is
this:

===================
Sponsor Message
===================

While I like how I do things for my publication, if everyone
moved toward a common design, then I'd move to. I'd suggest
something straight-forward, such as:

==============AD===============

-or-

=======SPONSOR'S MESSAGE=======

I don't like things like FLAG or SPOTLIGHT, as Andy
suggested, because I don't think they distinguish the ads
clearly from the editorial copy. I know, that's great for
the advertisers, but I think a clear label should be
adopted.

Other suggestions:

+ Formatting: I think we should do away with special
formatting attempts. For example, and advertiser may want to
try and center their text ads or indent lines. The problem
is that the representation can be inconsistent between mail
programs. I want a format that I know won't get screwed up,
so that both I and the advertiser will be happy.

+ Name: Perhaps a better name might inspire advertisers? For
example, advertisers know what a banner ad is now. But do
they know what "text banner ad" means? If not, is this the
term we want to promote? How about simply "email ad." That
eliminates any idea that there might be "banner"
characteristics. Another idea might be "sponsor statement."

danny

-----------------------------------
Danny Sullivan
Editor, Search Engine Watch
http://searchenginewatch.com


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Received on Wed Jan 20 1999 - 06:28:27 CST