Web21 Offers to Embed Ads in Browsers

Web 21 in Palo Alto, CA, host of 100hot.com, launched 100hot Surfboard, a new service for online advertisers that can install a company’s logo and link directly into the permanent toolbar of a Web user’s browser.

The company said 100hot Surfboard uses Java technology to enable advertisers–including Ameritech and Hotel Discounts–to have their brand prominently displayed on browsers, providing constant exposure to Web audiences.

The service, using proprietary technology, offers online advertisers a way to
become a semi-permanent and obvious fixture on a user’s Web browser–either
Netscape Navigator 4.x or Internet Explorer 4.x.

“100hot Surfboard combines the incomparable reach of the Web and the power of
Java to provide remarkable value both for advertisers and for the audiences
they want to reach,” said Bert Fornaciari, president and CEO of Web 21.
“100hot Surfboard dramatically increases a company’s brand exposure and Web
traffic by hard-wiring its Internet site to the world’s most popular browsers.
It’s the click that keeps on clicking.”

Web users install 100hot Surfboard by clicking on one of thousands of
advertisements that appear throughout the Internet, the company said. The ads
launch a Java applet that installs a collection of bookmarks within Netscape
Navigator’s Personal Toolbar, or a collection of Favorites within Internet
Explorer’s Links Toolbar. The links are stored in folders on the Toolbars, and
can be customized, renamed or removed as the user wishes.

Pricing for advertisers is based either on a flat rate or a per-click model.
For an additional fee, companies can have their logo and link permanently
installed next to the Toolbar folders, rather than inside them.

Web 21 said it also offers an advanced option for high-profile advertisers
that makes it simple for Web users to select that advertiser’s site as their
new homepage.