Half-Page Ads Go B-to-B
- by Masha Geller , September 19, 2003
The half page ad was introduced in the B-to-C marketplace New York Times Digital (NYTD) and CBS MarketWatch (CBSMW) earlier this year, in a move that many online ad experts called a "important day in online publishing," maintaining that it brought online advertisers much closer to the traditional print model of the 50/50 content/ad ratio.
At the time, Scot McLernon, EVP of Sales at CBS MW, said, "More traditional advertisers are going to be able to relate to this format."
On the B-to-C side, NYTD and CBS MW came out of the gate with MCI and Scottrade as the first advertisers, respectively, to run the 336 x 800 unit on their news and story pages.
In the B-to-B arena, "Windows & .NET Magazine Network is once again pioneering the B-to-B online advertising market," said Jason Brown, Emedia strategist for the Windows & .NET Magazine Network. "Half-page ads have been used successfully for consumer products, and we felt it was time to use them in our online publications."
"Windows & .NET Magazine Network has had great success offering new ad formats to our advertisers," Brown added. "Our roadblock ads are continuing to generate great results. We're proving that innovative ad positions can be a great success in B-to-B online publications."
In May, 2003 Windows & .NET Magazine Network launched three roadblock advertising campaigns on three separate Web sites. Each advertising campaign was underwritten by different advertising sponsors. The ad campaigns are continuing to generate impressive CTRs in comparison to the Internet Advertising Bureau's average click-thru ratios from online advertising.
Brown attributes the success of the new advertisement styles to the fact that they are relatively new to their users. "This is the first time these new styles of advertising have been brought to our audience of IT professionals. The compelling design of the ads and their novelty accounts for the success we are experiencing with this approach," he said.
