• by Masha Geller , April 17, 2003

Half-page online ad fever is sweeping the web! Earlier this week, New York Times Digital and CBS MarketWatch announced they would be offering advertisers half-page ads on the their content and story pages (MDN, 4/16), and yesterday Forbes.com said they also debuted its first half-page ad unit. Forbes.com said that three additional marketers have signed on to launch the units over the next several weeks, including British Airways.

"We're pleased to be one of the first online destinations to implement the new ad unit, which enables advertisers to expand their messages with larger and more noticeable real estate," said Jim Spanfeller, president & CEO of Forbes.com. "We will continue to develop innovative ad formats that give marketers the best return on their advertising investment."

"The half-page unit represents a fantastic balance of a bold creative impression without the impolite intrusion upon the user's online experience," said Matthew Cronin, Account Director at i-traffic, the interactive advertising agency for British Airways. "With the right creative, it's a captivating interactive ad unit that will certainly help us to achieve our clients' branding objectives."

Forbes.com's half-page unit, measuring 336x850, allows for rich media capabilities, which are at the cutting edge of online advertising technology. An additional benefit of this new ad size is its location. The half-page unit runs within story pages surrounded by editorial content, capturing the attention of Forbes.com readers while they are engaged in what Forbes.com editors have to say.