âSponsorship Rectanglesâ Replace Banner Ads
In a surprise concession, the Internet Advertising Bureau today acknowledged the banner ad is dead, but expressed confidence that its latest innovation, âSponsorship Rectangles,â will spread quickly and reignite online advertising. According to the IAB, the Sponsorship Rectangle is a radically new marketing concept that allows companies to âsponsorâ individual Web pages by placing special âcompany messagesâ in a 468Ã60-pixel rectangle atop each page. These messages can be used to promote a product, company, or event, and can even be âanimatedâ to draw attention to the sponsor. âBasically, we told our member ad agencies to throw out the banner ad concept and start from scratch,â explained IAB spokesman Tim Turpin. âI think itâs fair to say that they rose to the challenge just as you would expect.â