Perpetual Smile

Not too long ago, I noticed that MySpace was using a new ad banner size. Their entire background was devoted to the costumer’s product, for an entire day. There was also usually some kind of accompanying 960×250 banner underneath the header. I loved this form of advertising from the start. I thought it was really creative and interesting. So naturally, I forgot about it.

Then, I was at Mike’s one day and he was showing me something or other at IGN.com. IGN started off as a little website that people uploaded video game walkthroughs to in .txt files, and now they write review and walkthroughs of all the hottest new games. I was surprised and excited to see that IGN too was using a similar advertising format.

Both sites are now sought-after ad spots. Let’s face it: whether you love or hate them, each site has a very large user base.

While MySpace uses only their home login page for these background ads, IGN uses the ads on every page. If there is no advertiser for that size on a given day, MySpace will use the 960×250 banner spot beneath the header on their login page, while IGN just reverts to their red logo background and regular ad spots.

A recent ad featured on MySpace was for the new Nicholas Cage movie, Numbers. At the bottom of the home login page, on the left hand side, was a smaller 620×50 banner.

MySpace and IGN aren’t the only websites using this new ad size. I have seen a handful of other sites using their backgrounds as ad space, and I think that more sites should snag this new idea while they can.

Why? Let’s face it, ads are tough. Users hate them and customers want the best ad spot possible. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t about Customer X or Y complaining that they aren’t the only one, or that their ad isn’t in the current hot spot. Companies have a hard time pleasing everyone and making money at the same time. I’ve seen all sorts of different methods that work, but get old very quickly: the page curl, the 1025×230 dropdown, the 300×250, and many others. Customers want ad space that gets in users’ faces, and users want ads that are helpful but also easily averted.

The full background, 1280×600, ad size solves all of these problems. It gets your attention, but it’s also part of the normal site; there’s nothing popping up, down, left, or right at you. If you’re interested in the product, you can click on one of the nearby banners (which are usually part of the entire ad in general). If you’re not interested, you can just move on.

Customers can purchase a whole day of being the best ad on the site, and online companies can make a nice profit because these ads are so great.

Of course, just like anything else on the web, this solution isn’t going to last forever. So get your background ad on and make some money!