SCOOP ADVISORY: N-ads - polite web ads that grab

Monday, 4 December 2000, 10:22 am
Article: Alastair Thompson

New Media company ‘Oktobor’ has developed a rich media web-advertising concept that is being trialed in the Culture and Science sections of SCOOP. (See...
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SECTION and CULTURE SECTION.)

As users surf these sections, they will receive a dynamic and brief flash animation showing a new direction for web advertising.

Readers will need to view at least two items in these sections before they will view the N-ad.

In the Scoop trial, the n-ads are delivered only to users using the Internet Explorer 5 browser, while other users see only the main site content; future n-ad installations will be accessible to other browsers.

The rich media technology was created by Oktobor to allow advertisers to use larger, more creative online advertising while assuring Web publishers no degradation in their users’ experience. For users, the net ads (n-ads) are an alternative to traditional web ads, but are designed to be as non-intrusive as possible, appearing only when the user is in transition ‘between’ pages. N-ads are preloaded and cached in advance to minimize delays, and so that they can deliver particularly “rich” content while pre-loading or buffering proceeding content.

Scoop is trialing the concept to get reaction from users, and to showcase the possibilities for the concept to potential advertisers and other portals.

N-ads are different from other Internet advertising concepts (such as banners, buttons and interstitials) because they appear in the same browser window during transitions “between” pages. This means that the n-ad appears while the user is waiting for the next page to complete its downloading, so it is not as intrusive as a pop-up window.

The n-ad content can be tailored for specific sections, and the number of n-ads people receive can be adjusted by the site. For those people wanting more information about the product or service on offer, they can simply click-through on the follow-up banner on the next page.

Oktobor and Scoop believe that the success of this concept will depend on having appropriately placed, dynamic content that is relevant to or of interest to users. N-ads will be brief, spaced appropriately so the user doesn’t get too many, and will offer a unique and compelling web experience.

For more information on N-ads please contact Gillian Vosper at Oktobor on 04 385 0185 or Alastair Thompson on 021 707044. Please email feedback to nads@scoop.co.nz

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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