• by Ken Liebeskind , March 26, 2001

By Ken Liebeskind

A report released by Jupiter Media Metrix today states that the new large online ad formats standardized by the Internet Advertising Bureau in late February have been used by less than five percent of websites.

"They are nowhere near achieving a high level of acceptance," says Charlie Buchwalter, Jupiter's vice-president of media research.

An IAB spokesman criticized the report for being premature, since the new formats have only been out for a month. They were launched by the IAB on Feb. 26. Robin Webster, the IAB's CEO, was unavailable for comment.

But Buchwalter was anxious to note that the report wasn't intended to make the IAB look bad. In fact, he agreed with the IAB spokesman's statement. "The standards were released only four weeks ago, we're conscious of the fact it's not an overnight adoption. The big news is that people are experimenting with large sizes all over the map, but they're not exactly matching the new specs."

Jupiter's report also states that nine percent of Web sites have experimented with new banner sizes, but less than 40 percent of those sites used an IAB-specified size during the month of February.

This is the crux of the problem: that advertisers are developing new sizes that don't conform to the IAB's. Some sites created popular sizes they don't want to change, such as Forbes.com's Skyscraper, which is a slightly different size from the new IAB Skyscrapers. Other publishers and agencies are creating new sizes that don't match the IAB's. "We constantly work with sites to create new sizes," says Joel Lunenfeld, senior media consultant at 360i.com, an interactive agency in Atlanta.

Another problem seems to be confusion, with advertisers unsure whether the formats they are using are actually the ones standardized by the IAB. Among the new sizes Lunenfeld says he's used recently are a Skyscraper, a 120 x 480 pixel, a 260 x 140 box, a 336 x 280 tabbed box and a 250 x 250 pop up. He isn't sure which, if any, of the formats matched the new IAB standards.

Meanwhile, the sites haven't begun to officially offer the new sizes. "I haven't seen them used in any media kits," Lunenfeld says. Buchenwald says it will take time for Web publishers to "code their sites to accommodate larger formats."

The Jupiter report also stated that a few sites and advertisers have begun to use the new standards frequently. Flipside.com, a games site, hosted over 30 million impressions for ads matching the new IAB specifications in February, 10 percent of its total inventory. Street.com placed second with six million impressions. The top advertiser for the new formats is Corbis, which purchased five million new IAB impressions in February.

Buchwalter is upbeat about the developments, noting that in 2000 "the market was saying traditional banners don't deliver, so we commend sites for trying new things. And we give credit to the IAB, because they're saying we need to honor innovation but it helps to agree o