ZDNet Offering Advertisers ‘Extramercials’

Ziff-Davis said that ZDNet has developed the “Extramercial,” a form of Web
advertising that uses what it calls “Extra,” the three-inch-wide column of
frequently unused space to the right of Internet pages.

Extramercials, which are powered by Dynamic HTML (DHTML) technology, are
placed within this space in the form of a microbutton that links users to a
full-column ad.

Compaq Computer Corp. signed on as the
first to take advantage of the new ad
space
with a campaign launching this month on the ZDNet homepage.

ZDNet has already been highlighting a range of content in this Extra space,
including editorial features on its ZDNN news site and registration information on
its homepage.

By placing DHTML ads in the Extra column, ZDNet said, advertisers gain the
ability to expand their creative real estate, and un-intrusively increase the
impact of their messages.

Extramercials are bigger than standard Web ad banners, and therefore allow for
multiple links within a single campaign.

Web users are able to get to the heart of the ad campaign without having to
leave the content page they are on.

“ZDNet has forged a reputation within the ad community as a proponent for the
advancement of Web advertising,” said Barry Briggs, vice president of
advertising sales and marketing for ZDNet. “We’re constantly looking for ways
to help our advertisers increase the impact of their messaging, and we have
challenged our creative and technology departments to develop more efficient
and effective implementations. The Extramercial innovation. . . is
exemplary of
this initiative.”

Extramercials can only be viewed using the latest 4.0 versions of Netscape and
Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers. ZDNet said it is planning to expand the
inclusion of the Extra column–and thus the Extramercial ad inventory–onto
several key parts of the site by the end of the year.