Comet Systems said its patent-pending
Comet Cursor technology is the centerpiece of a first-ever cursor ad campaign
for The Real Yellow Pages ONLINE from
BellSouth via the Flycast Network.
Comet Systems entered into an agreement with Flycast that allows advertisers
to deploy branded Comet Cursor Ads over the network. This allows any of
Flycast’s
affiliate Web sites to change a Web surfer’s cursor so that it matches an
online banner advertisement.
BellSouth has created custom “Walking Fingers” cursors in conjunction with
its banner ad campaigns. The “arrow” cursor changes into an animated “Walking
Fingers” cursor as you scroll over the BellSouth banner ad on Flycast’s
affiliate sites.
In addition, the cursor changes to a static “Walking Fingers” cursor over the
entire page when a Web surfer visits www.thekiss.com, www.ecards.com, or www.regards.com. On all participating
sites, the BellSouth cursor ad animates as it crosses the ad, with the
fingers “doing the walking.” Spending on the campaign was not disclosed.
The Comet Cursor’s small size (the animated BellSouth cursor is a 2.1
kilobytes) makes it compatible with any Web browser, even for those using a
dial-up connection, Comet said. The same banner is used regardless of whether
or not users download the Comet Cursor, eliminating the need for advertisers
to develop multiple versions of the same campaign.
“We are very excited about the Comet Cursor concept, it is just too clever to
ignore,” said Melissa Honabach, senior advertising manager for The Real
Yellow Pages ONLINE. “The cursor is the key to Web site navigation and it
always draws the eye.”