Page 220 - Electronic Commerce

Marketing on the Web

Rich media ads, also called active ads, generate graphical activity that “floats” over
the Web page itself instead of opening in a separate window. These ads always contain
moving graphics and usually include audio and video elements. One of the first rich media
ads featured the figure of a little man who walked into the displayed Web page, unrolled a
movie poster, and then pasted the poster onto the Web page (covering up part of the Web
page content—content that a user might have been reading!). After about 10 seconds, the 195
figure walked off the page and the poster disappeared. While it was open on the page, the
poster was an active link to the movie’s Web site.
Rich media ads are also used on Web sites that deliver video. For example, a Web site
that provides television shows or video news updates will often include a rich media ad
at the beginning of the video clip. A visitor opens the video and must view a 15- or
30-second ad before the content begins to play.
Mobile Device Advertising
In recent years, the use of mobile devices that are connected to the Internet, such as
smartphones and tablets, has grown tremendously. The programs that run on these
devices, called mobile apps (which is a short form of the term “mobile software
applications”) perform a variety of functions such as calendar, contact management, Web
browsing, e-mail, and entertainment. A number of mobile apps provide connectivity to
specific Web sites or groups of Web sites. You will learn more about the business of selling
mobile apps in Chapter 6.
Some of the sellers of mobile apps include an advertising element in their revenue
models. These apps include mobile ads that display messages from advertisers (other than
the seller of the app). For example, the mobile app of The New York Times has a small
bar at the bottom of the screen that displays ads. Some productivity and game software
also includes advertising that appears on a part of the screen or as a separate screen that
must be clicked through to get to the productivity tool or game. The advertising space on
mobile apps is sold in the same way that banner advertising on Web sites is sold.

Site Sponsorships
Some Web sites offer advertisers the opportunity to sponsor all or parts of their sites.
These site sponsorships give advertisers a chance to promote their products, services, or
brands in a more subtle way than by placing banner or pop-up ads on the sites (although
some sponsorship packages include a certain number of banner and pop-up ads).
Companies that buy Web site sponsorships have goals that are similar to those of
sporting event sponsors or television program sponsors—that is, they want to tie the
company or product name to an event or a set of information. The idea is that the quality
of the event or information set will carry over to the company’s products, services, or
brands. In general, sponsorships are used to build brand images and develop reputations
rather than to generate immediate sales. A site sponsorship can be exclusive, which
prevents any other companies from sponsoring the site, or it can be shared, which means
that other companies can be co-sponsors of the site. In general, an exclusive site
sponsorship will cost more than a shared site sponsorship.
In some cases, the sponsor is given the right to create content for the site or to
weave its advertising message into the site’s content. This practice can raise ethical

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