Rollover advertising may be the scourge of web viewers everywhere, but Vibrant Media is making a bid to make it more useful. Or at least more relevant.
Vibrant Media, the leading provider of in-text advertising, specializes in hyperlink embedded advertising. Today the company announced the launch of Vibrant Related Content, a similar application that will show users more content related to their article.
The pop-up advertising that appears over web content may irritate readers trying to get through articles, but with click through rates of 3 to 10 percent, the effectiveness of Vibrant's advertising keeps their ads popping up around the web. Vibrant currently works with 3,500 publishers online, reaching more than 120 million unique viewers worldwide.
The new relevant links will feature additional editorial, like related articles or most emailed links. Alongside that content will run advertising like banner ads and pre-roll video spots.
The company has signed on 50 partners to test out the new application, including DetroitNews.com, eHow, and iVillage. Rather than the double underline that characterizes Vibrant’s previous advertising model, the new ads will feature a single underline and a small magnifying glass to indicate more content.
According to a study cited in Vibrant’s release, link following accounts for about 45 percent of all page transitions. Vibrant is hoping that the new application will lengthen viewers’ time on partner websites, propel “forward navigation,” and eliminate “dead ends.”
