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Skyscraper & Other Large Ads

Named for their tall, skinny height, skyscraper ads tend to appear in the left- or right-hand margin of a Web site. Because of their greater surface area, advertisers can convey more of a message, visually, textually, or both.

The Internet Advertising Bureau has set standard sizes for skyscraper and other large-sized ads. These standards can be found here. A good site on which to see examples of skyscraper ads is Salon.

Pop-Up & Pop-Under Windows

Most folks know what a pop-up ad looks like (just go to any Yahoo GeoCities page and you'll see what I mean). Pop-ups can range in size from a small box to nearly a full-sized browser window (interstitials) which can play mini-commercials if you leave them up long enough. Pop-under ads are typically full browser windows that are displayed behind or "under" the one you're currently looking at, and are only visible when you go to close your first browser window. For examples of pop-up and pop-under ads, visit the About Advertising site.

Rich Media

Although they can be take on the size and characteristics of typical banners, rich media is anything but typical. Rich media allows the user to interact -- make selections, play games, enter information -- all without having to leave the Web site.

For a showcase of samples go to the IAB Rich Media Sample page.

"Shoshkeles"

Coined by the company that created them, United Virtualities, shoshkeles are "floating" graphics that incorporate sound, are not of a standard shape, and which move across a Web page, instead of residing in a fixed location. They definitely get the vote for latest "cool" factor. Go to this shoshkeles sample page to see them at work.

Sponsorships

Usually built to suit the advertiser, sponsorship packages give you dominance of a Web page or section of a Web site. A nice example of a sponsorship offering can be found here.

Text Links

If your product or service is tough to define graphically, try using words. The most simple way to start is to buy an advertisement in the form of a text link. They're easy to add practically anywhere on a site and so innocuous that they may not be perceived as an ad. View some examples here.

Text Boxes

More noticeable than a text link, text boxes give you more space in which to communicate your message. Heavy borders and contrasting colors also help to improve response rates. Google's Ad Words program is a great example of this.

Advertorial

Advertorial is paid-for editorial space. Advertorial tends to be an informative piece with the advertiser's "plug" and hyperlink conveniently worked in. Click here for an example.

Newsletter Sponsorships

Much like Web site sponsorships, newsletter sponsorships dominate the advertising space of a newsletter. If that newsletter is also available in HTML, the advertiser may get visibility in the form of both text and graphic messages. Online publisher ClickZ (a sister site to NewMedia) does a particularly good job with this.

E-Mail Tag Lines

If you use a free e-mail service, you've probably noticed that they at least promote themselves at the bottom of every e-mail you send out. Some services, like Topica, even sell space within their e-mails.

Search Engine Sponsorship Links