FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., Oct. 20, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- PointRoll Inc., a leader in rich media technology and service, today announced the results of its first annual survey of creative online advertising professionals. Respondents from leading agencies worldwide detailed market trends, challenges and opportunities, illustrating a significant shift in the goals and measurement of online ads.
"More than a decade after the first banner ad, online advertising is coming into its own as the most interactive way to reach consumers and build brands," said Dimitry Ioffe, Principal of Media Banners, a creative agency that specializes in the entertainment industry with a strong roster of motion picture studio clients. "Advertisers now understand that it's not just about click-throughs. As the creative community continues to push the limits of what can be done within the context of an ad, advertisers are able to reach an incredibly wide audience with highly personal, interactive experiences."
Key findings of the survey include:
-- Branding is the most important consideration for online ads, with 70 percent of respondents identifying it as the "most important" or "second most important" goal.
-- Interaction rate is the most important measurement of rich media performance. 53 percent of participants indicated that the best way to judge an ad is to measure the percent of users that interact with the unit.
-- Video is gaining ground. 79 percent of those surveyed have included video when creating rich media ads, which PointRoll's metrics demonstrate boosts time-on-brand +16% versus the overall PointRoll average. 53 percent of participants think video should be 15 seconds or less, and many noted an increase in video created specifically for online use.
"Online ads increasingly function as a destination for online users, instead of as a doorway to a Web site," said Martin Betoni, PointRoll's art director. "We've helped our creative partners build ads that let consumers create and download music, design desktop wallpaper and e-mail photos to their friends. When you start to tap into those possibilities, it's easy to see why the creative vision increasingly determines the media buy, and not the other way around."
PointRoll's rich media formats give ad designers a wide palate of interactive elements, including full-screen video, games, polls and e-mails. Its programs are compatible with MAC as well as Windows, so that all designers can create and review ads on their preferred platform.
About PointRoll, Inc.
PointRoll, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), powers the most creative, engaging, and consumer-friendly ad campaigns on the Internet. Founded in 2000, the company enables advertisers, agencies, and online publishers to measurably increase conversion opportunity, brand awareness, creative expression, and message content -- without disrupting the user's online experience. PointRoll's proprietary technology platform delivers a suite of rich media products including: FatBoy(R) expanding ads, Tomboy(TM) universal 100K+, TowelBoy(R) snap-back units, and BadBoy(TM) floating ads, dramatically enhancing the impact of any Internet ad campaign. PointRoll's rich media experts support every campaign with full service including creative consultation and development, Q/A testing, and trafficking. PointRoll works with more than 500 advertisers and its technology is accepted by thousands of online publishers including Yahoo!, MSN and AOL. For more information, please visit http://www.pointroll.com.