• by November 16, 2004

Rich media provider PointRoll, Inc. plans today to announce a six-month agreement with advertising agency GSD&M, in Austin, Texas, which represents SBC, MasterCard, and the United States Air Force, among others.

The deal, which started earlier this year, involves PointRoll's commitment to providing the technology for online ads for GSD&M-created campaigns, on a volume-discount basis depending on the number of impressions. The deal is not exclusive, meaning that GSD&M will be free to use other technology companies, just as PointRoll can work with other agencies.

So far this year, the Fort Washington, Pa.-based PointRoll has provided technology for Internet ads for the GSD&M Clients MasterCard, SBC, and United Healthcare. PointRoll and GSD&M's relationship, which began in June, was formalized in August, said Jerry Courtney, media director at GSD&M-Interactive Media. He said GSD&M might renew its agreement with PointRoll when it expires.

PointRoll's ad technologies include the floating BadBoy, the banner snap-out TowelBoy, and the FatBoy expandable. In the third quarter of 2004 alone, more than 1,000 campaigns used PointRoll technology --the vast majority of which was the FatBoy expandable, said PointRoll Vice President of Marketing Mitch Rose.

One current campaign that uses FatBoy expandable technology is for the New York Times electronic edition. FatBoy expandable involves an interactive banner that expands vertically when users roll a mouse over it. "PointRoll takes pride in being able to deliver a high-impact message without disrupting the user experience," said Rose.