• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 14, 2010

Never mind the iAd -- Internet radio service Pandora has launched its own rich media ads for the iPad with Starbucks, Lexus, Budweiser, Chase and AT&T on board as initial sponsors.

The new ad capability extends advertising on the Pandora app from the Web to other portable devices including the iPhone to the new Apple tablet. The unit features animation, video and audio elements that users can interact with -- without leaving the Pandora iPad app, similar to Apple's iAd.

It also allows marketers to target ads by gender, age, location, type of music, and time of day. A Pandora spokesperson would not comment on pricing for advertising in its iPad app, but the company is offering up to five brands exclusive sponsorship in their category each month for the rest of the year. Companies can also renew their sponsorship each month.

Starbucks' kickoff campaign in the Pandora iPad app promotes the "however-you-want-it" Frappuccino, with an ad that users can click to see different options for building their own version of the company's signature frozen coffee drink.

Lexus, meanwhile, is running a new spot titled "Pitch" that shows its new LFA sports coupe as it revs its engine to a pitch that shatters a champagne glass. The automaker said it was targeting the ad to the iPad's audience of early-adopters.

Budweiser is the exclusive sponsor of the Pandora iPad apps music festivals page.

With 2 million iPad users and counting to date, the device offers the possibility of further expanding Pandora's already sizable audience of 54 million registered listeners. The company says more than 2.5 million join each month, with more than half (55%) signing up via a mobile device.

Users interact with the Pandora app eight times an hour on average, refining the custom playlists they create as well as clicking on ads. Video ads on Pandora appearing on mobile devices generate a 3.4% click-through rate, according to the company. Pandora's audience and engagement levels have helped it attract 60 of the top 100 spending brands on the Internet in the last 16 months.

The company declined to comment on whether the iAd platform would also serve ads on the Pandora iPad app since Apple's mobile ad system has not launched yet. It goes live July 1.