Large ad formats– skyscrapers, squares and rectangles — have grown from accounting for 4 percent of online ad impressions in April 2001 to 9 percent in January 2002, Jupiter Media Metrix said yesterday. The number of large-format ad impressions grew 185 percent over that same period, from 2 billion to 5.7 billion, the New York research firm said.
“Among the large formats, we're seeing most rapid growth among the skyscraper format, which increased in popularity by 436 percent between April 2001 and January 2002,” said Charles Buchwalter, vice president of media research, Jupiter Media Metrix in a statement.
Meanwhile, the banner continues to dominate, having claimed 50 to 52 percent share every month over the past year, according to Jupiter.
The number of banner ad impressions grew 39 percent, from 23.6 billion impressions in April 2001 to 32.9 billion in January 2002, according to Jupiter.
The number of small ad — bars and buttons — impressions grew 15 percent between April 2001 and January 2001, from 20.6 billion impressions to 23.7, but the small format's share among all ads declined from 46 percent to 38 percent over the same period.
“It is doubtful that the demise of smaller ad formats is anywhere near on the horizon, but experimentation is moving in other directions,” Buchwalter said.
In other Jupiter findings:
· Automotive sites are 35 percent more likely to apply small ad formats than all other sites, while personal sites were 37 percent less likely. In January 2002, small-format ads composed 76 percent and 4 percent, respectively, of all ads on those categories.
· Shopping and auction sites are 31 percent more likely to use banner ads, while automotive sites are 30 percent less likely to have banners. Banner ads composed 80 percent and 19 percent, respectively, of all ads served on those categories of sites.
· Game sites are 10 percent more likely to have square and rectangle ads, while ISP sites are three percent less likely. Squares and rectangle ads composed 13 percent and less than 1 percent, respectively, of all ads on those categories.
· While personal sites were the least likely to have small ads, this category is most likely to have skyscraper ads. Personal expression sites are 12 percent more likely to have skyscrapers, with 19 percent of all ads having been that format in January 2002.
· Comparatively, health and fitness sites were six percent less likely to have skyscrapers, with only one percent of all ads having been that format.
