They’ve been pretty quiet thus far, but ad banners on the Web are ready to speak up.
ADNet International announced Wednesday that high-profile Web directories Yahoo and Infoseek approved the company as a supplier of ad banners that use sound.
“We are the first approved audio banners on Yahoo,” said Michael Henderson, president of ADNet. “They’ve never run them before.”
Yahoo and Infoseek representatives were not immediately available to confirm ADNet’s claims.
So-called “click to hear” audio banners add sound to banner ads on a Web page. If a user clicks on an ad, RealNetworks’ RealPlayer launches to play an audio sales message, giving online ads a radio-like appeal, Henderson said.
Advertisers “are certain that ‘rich media’ now has its place on the Internet,” Henderson said. “A lot of companies have already in the can. Coca-Cola has 50 radio spots. Now they can use their text and audio copy [on the Web] without having to go back and reinvent the wheel.”
ADNet’s ActiveBanner media server will deliver the ads. The company claimed audio-enhanced banners can increase banner ad responses two to three times, based on its own research.
Among the companies that are using the ads already are Simmons Bedding, Net backbone provider NetRail, apparel manufacturer Habitat, and GM Voices, a voice-messaging company.
“I applaud them for doing that — as long as they handle it well,” said Susan Bratton, director of interactive advertising for @Home. “That means putting control of the audio playback in the hands of the Web customer.”
@Home (ATHM), the cable-based Internet service provider, has been experimenting with “rich media” advertising on its network to great effect, Bratton said.
In September, it launched a research initiative with Intel (INTC), market researcher [IPSOS-ASI, and six national advertisers to demonstrate that rich online ads can be as compelling as the TV advertising.](http://www.asiresearch.com/)
<ref="http://www.asiresearch.com/"> <p>The big advantage of media beyond the current text, graphics, and animation of Web ads, Bratton said, is feeling. “It’
oe — it can you put in a mood.”</p> <p>AT&T, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Toys ‘R’ Us, and credit-card vendor First USA are all
iating in the @Home experiment.</p> <p>Complex, broadband ads on the @Home network are embedded in the lower-right corner of Web pages. The ads sport high-quality aud
nideo and interactive elements.</p> <p>Such integration of audio and video with the Web’s interactive and text capabilities are essential, Bratton said, and neither difficult nor expensive. But if the Yahoo and Infoseek ads are just going to play canned audio sp
le an intelligent thing to do.”</p> <p>“If you give the consumer a richer, value-added experience, then there’s a much larger p
ne of participation,” she said.</p> <p>Bratton thinks the potential for annoying users with a noisier Web is worth it. “Though the irritability factor, in general, can go up on rich media, it’s eclipsed by the fact that a lot of people find it more
ormative and they like it better.”</p>
