Ad-supported free ISP NetZero Inc., on
Monday revealed its plans for that idle time when users are connecting to
the Internet — 30-second video commercials.
The technology, which the company is calling NZTV, is the first fruit of
NetZero’sacquisition of Aim TV Inc. in December 1999.
The company has already signed on an advertiser — GMBuyPower.com. Initially, NetZero
will offer exclusive deals to four advertisers each month, whose spots will
run in rotation.
“NZTV enables us to leverage this new medium using commercials already
produced for television, saving us additional production costs,” said Leo
Drew, GMBuyPower.com director of operations.
Presumably, the ads are downloaded to users’ hard drives during the time
when they are connected, then displayed the next time that the user begins
the log-in process. Because of this, NetZero says the ads are
non-streaming, and of broadcast quality.
The development of high-quality video delivery systems are considered
critical to the growth of online advertising, because some traditional
advertisers — car makers, especially — believe only video can show off
their products to best advantage.