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On the web, bigger
must be better
At least for ads. Hot thing is 728 x 90 leaderboard.
By Diego Vasquez
We are so accustomed to believing that rich media is driving
ad growth on the web, reflecting the flood of traditional advertisers to this newest
medium.
That is certainly true, yet the fastest-growing ad format is a variation of one of
the web's oldest ad sizes, the 468 x 60 pixel banner that's appeared at the tops of web
pages for years.
The hot new thing is the 728 x 90 leaderboard. Its use on web sites
grew 384 percent during the second quarter as compared with the same period in 2003.
That's according to DoubleClick, the online ad serving and marketing company.
“The leaderboard was just introduced last year, and it’s
already the No. 2 size,” says Kathryn Koegel, director of research and industry
development for DoubleClick.
“Most content sites have switched from 468 x 60 to 728 x 90, and it has made
advertisers happy because they have a broader palate to work with,” says Koegel.
The 468 x 60 still accounts for the largest portion of ads served by
DoubleClick, with 30 percent of the share compared with only 7.9 percent for the (728 x
90) leaderboard.
But its use grew by only 10 percent against the 728 x 90's 384 percent.
Koegel says the larger leaderboard has grown in popularity because it’s
a relatively easy size for content sites to adapt.
“You don’t have to dramatically change page layouts,” she
notes.
Interestingly, the older 468 x 60 banner appears to rouse a stronger response
from surfers than the larger 728 x 90, with the former having a 0.40 percent click rate
compared to 0.21 percent for the new format.
DoubleClick attributes that variance to actual
creative content and placement, also noting that click-through
rates tend to rise and fall dramatically quarter to quarter.
Overall click-through rates for the quarter were steady quarter to
quarter at 0.56, but that was off 17 percent from last year.
“I think it's due to the type of advertiser who buys them: advertisers
focused on direct response often buy 468s in bulk and from
networks or remnant inventory sellers,” Koegel says. “The 728
is a usually placed in a prime position, has a higher cpm attached
to it, and is more likely to be purchased by an advertiser focused
on branding as well as response.”
One ad format the average internet user may think is on the rise is the 250 x
250 pixel square pop-up ad. But that format is actually down 14 percent year-to-year.
“It doesn’t surprise us. They’re very controversial with
consumers,” Koegel says. “Direct-response advertisers love them because they
know they work. But a number of [internet service providers] have enabled popup blocking,
which concerns advertisers.”
The use of rich media ads grew by 34 percent year-to-year among advertisers
serving their ads through DoubleClick, and the effect was to dramatically increase rich
media's share of total ads served to 42.7 percent in the second quarter from 31.7 percent.
That figure is higher than across the internet overall because DoubleClick has a large
share of the larger, traditional advertisers who favor rich media.
Koegel notes that rich media ads account for a goodly share of all the
different ad sizes but that those share vary widely by size.
Despite the decline in use of square pop-up ads, that format claimed the
second-highest click rate during the second quarter at 0.68 percent.
Interstitial ads had the highest click rate at 2.35 percent.
Source: DoubleClick
Source: DoubleClick
Top 25 parent companies
Through August 22 |
| # |
Parent |
Unique
Audience (000) |
Reach
% |
Time
spent per person (hh:mm:ss) |
1 |
Microsoft |
54,097 |
51.2 |
0:34:21 |
2 |
Time Warner |
46,909 |
44.4 |
1:29:20 |
3 |
Yahoo! |
46,648 |
44.1 |
0:44:03 |
4 |
Google |
24,892 |
23.6 |
0:08:29 |
5 |
eBay |
17,117 |
16.2 |
0:43:30 |
6 |
Ask Jeeves |
10,731 |
10.2 |
0:12:01 |
7 |
United States
Government |
9,674 |
9.2 |
0:10:54 |
8 |
RealNetworks |
8,597 |
8.1 |
0:25:55 |
9 |
Amazon |
8,449 |
8.0 |
0:10:49 |
10 |
Walt Disney Internet
Group |
8,170 |
7.7 |
0:19:02 |
11 |
InterActiveCorp |
7,595 |
7.2 |
0:11:12 |
12 |
United Online |
7,335 |
6.9 |
0:40:06 |
13 |
Viacom International |
6,477 |
6.1 |
0:15:26 |
14 |
Landmark
Communications |
6,430 |
6.1 |
0:05:28 |
15 |
AWS Convergence
Technologies |
6,031 |
5.7 |
0:10:57 |
16 |
Terra Lycos |
5,384 |
5.1 |
0:07:39 |
17 |
EarthLink |
5,335 |
5.1 |
0:30:20 |
18 |
Comcast Corp. |
4,434 |
4.2 |
0:17:55 |
19 |
Verizon
Communications |
4,349 |
4.1 |
0:11:26 |
20 |
Network Associates |
4,342 |
4.1 |
0:11:49 |
21 |
CNET Networks |
4,158 |
3.9 |
0:06:54 |
22 |
Apple Computer |
4,156 |
3.9 |
0:14:24 |
23 |
Bank of America |
4,098 |
3.9 |
0:20:00 |
24 |
Gannett |
3,994 |
3.8 |
0:09:16 |
25 |
Claria Corporation |
3,719 |
3.5 |
0:01:16 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings |
Top 25 brands
Through August 22 |
| |
Parent |
Unique
Audience (000) |
Reach
% |
Time
spent per person (hh:mm:ss) |
1 |
Yahoo! |
45,234 |
42.8 |
0:45:14 |
2 |
MSN |
44,536 |
42.1 |
0:31:44 |
3 |
Microsoft |
35,467 |
33.6 |
0:12:31 |
4 |
AOL |
34,651 |
32.8 |
1:49:41 |
5 |
Google |
24,539 |
23.2 |
0:08:21 |
6 |
eBay |
16,554 |
15.7 |
0:42:15 |
7 |
Real |
8,297 |
7.9 |
0:24:54 |
8 |
Amazon |
7,346 |
7.0 |
0:10:43 |
9 |
MapQuest |
6,760 |
6.4 |
0:06:54 |
10 |
Weather Channel |
6,311 |
6.0 |
0:05:27 |
11 |
WeatherBug |
6,006 |
5.7 |
0:10:59 |
12 |
CNN |
5,465 |
5.2 |
0:09:08 |
13 |
Netscape |
5,181 |
4.9 |
0:10:32 |
14 |
Lycos Network |
4,940 |
4.7 |
0:07:03 |
15 |
EarthLink |
4,456 |
4.2 |
0:31:50 |
16 |
McAfee |
4,276 |
4.1 |
0:11:58 |
17 |
Apple |
4,156 |
3.9 |
0:14:24 |
18 |
Comcast |
3,950 |
3.7 |
0:19:30 |
19 |
Gator Network |
3,696 |
3.5 |
0:01:16 |
20 |
Gorilla Nation Media |
3,665 |
3.5 |
0:07:57 |
21 |
Bank of America |
3,617 |
3.4 |
0:19:48 |
22 |
EA Online |
3,584 |
3.4 |
1:01:15 |
23 |
Paypal |
3,439 |
3.3 |
0:12:49 |
24 |
ESPN |
3,433 |
3.3 |
0:16:51 |
25 |
MusicMatch Jukebox |
3,271 |
3.1 |
0:18:03 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings |
Top 25 advertisers
(excludes house ads)
Through August 22 |
| # |
Company |
Impressions
(000) |
1 |
AT&T Wireless
Services, Inc. |
412,917 |
2 |
Dell Computer
Corporation |
382,844 |
3 |
MatchNet plc |
355,026 |
4 |
InterActiveCorp |
350,380 |
5 |
SBC Communications,
Inc. |
329,343 |
6 |
Fun Web Products |
328,453 |
7 |
Netflix, Inc. |
318,080 |
8 |
Meredith Corporation |
269,825 |
9 |
Verizon
Communications, Inc. |
260,442 |
10 |
General Motors
Corporation |
233,904 |
11 |
BellSouth
Corporation |
231,131 |
12 |
Apollo Group, Inc. |
223,891 |
13 |
LowerMyBills.com,
Inc. |
217,204 |
14 |
LoanLinks.com |
205,030 |
15 |
Orbitz |
201,759 |
16 |
NetQuote/Auto
Insurance Shopper, Inc. |
200,499 |
17 |
Samsung Electronics
Co., Ltd. |
192,081 |
18 |
Ameritrade Holding
Corporation |
191,934 |
19 |
Scottrade, Inc. |
189,792 |
20 |
Viacom Inc |
176,096 |
21 |
Lavalife Inc. |
175,224 |
22 |
Classmates Online,
Inc. |
174,542 |
23 |
Monster Worldwide,
Inc. |
158,196 |
24 |
DaimlerChrysler
Corporation |
157,276 |
25 |
IncreaseYourHealth.com |
146,374 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
Top 25 advertising sites
(excludes house ads)
Through August 22 |
| |
Company |
Impressions
(000) |
1 |
Yahoo! |
4,625,505 |
2 |
MSN |
2,414,842 |
3 |
iWon |
723,181 |
4 |
CNN |
450,344 |
5 |
eBay |
433,999 |
6 |
Juno |
355,876 |
7 |
Excite |
328,390 |
8 |
ESPN.com |
308,742 |
9 |
MSNBC |
296,709 |
10 |
AT&T Worldnet |
230,681 |
11 |
The Weather Channel |
229,934 |
12 |
Realtor.com |
216,845 |
13 |
CBS MarketWatch |
211,799 |
14 |
The New York Times |
203,321 |
15 |
Netscape |
200,262 |
16 |
EarthLink |
197,353 |
17 |
NetZero |
195,279 |
18 |
AOL.com |
178,754 |
19 |
Classmates |
176,027 |
20 |
Webshots |
172,653 |
21 |
FOXNEWS.COM |
160,788 |
22 |
About.com |
153,782 |
23 |
Monster.com |
134,368 |
24 |
myspace |
131,254 |
25 |
Pogo |
127,924 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
Average use
Through August 22 |
| |
|
Current
Week |
Last
Week |
%
Change |
| |
Sessions/Visits per
Person |
10 |
10 |
0.00 |
| |
Domains Visited per
Person |
22 |
22 |
0.00 |
| |
PC Time per Person |
7:53:43 |
7:56:33 |
-0.60 |
| |
Active Digital Media
Universe |
105,995,561 |
106,427,215 |
-0.41 |
| |
Current Digital
Media Universe Estimate |
201,660,855 |
201,660,891 |
0.00 |
| Source:
Nielsen//Net Ratings AdRelevance |
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Aug. 31,
2004 © 2004 Media Life
- Diego Vasquez
is a staff writer for Media Life.
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