A group of the web’s largest publishers have announced they will begin to support three larger ad units. CNN, ESPN, MTV Networks, New York Times, and other publishers that are part of the Online Publishers Association will begin to offer at least one of the advertising units by July 1. Some of the publishers have already introduced the ad units on their websites. According to Online Publishers Association the participating sites had “unduplicated reach of 108.3 million visitors, or 66 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience” in January. The Assocation says that new formats will only be available through the publishers’ direct sales teams and not through ad networks that that some publishers blame for declining display ad pricing.
The new ad units are:
The Fixed Panel (recommended dimension is 336 wide x 860 tall), which looks naturally embedded into the page layout and scrolls to the top and bottom of the page as a user scrolls.
The XXL Box (recommended dimension is 468 wide x 648 tall), which has page-turn functionality with video capability.
The Pushdown (recommended dimension is 970 wide x 418 tall), which opens to display the advertisement and then rolls up to the top of the page.