The IAB issues guidelines for online rich media ads

10 Mar 2004

The US-based Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has issued guidelines for rich media ads that are designed to simplify the online ad planning and buying process. Over 30 of the leading online publishers, representing 65% of total advertising inventory are or plan to be in compliance with these guidelines.

Those companies that are or plan to be compliant are: 24/7 Real Media, About.com, Accuweather, Advertising.com, All Recipes, American Greetings.com, AOL, AtlasDMT, Autobytel, Cars.com, Cartoon Network, CBS Marketwatch, CheckM8, Classmates.com, CNET Networks Inc., CondeNet, Electronic Arts, DoubleClick, Edmunds.com, Eyeblaster, Inc., Eyewonder, Fastclick, Forbes, Gemstar – TV Guide, Homestore, Interpolls, iVillage, MSN, New York Times Digital, Sportsline, Terra Lycos, The Excite Network, Unicast, Univision, USA Today, Value Click, Viewpoint, Wall Street Journal, Walt Disney Internet Group, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive, Weather.com and Yahoo!

Version 2.0 of the voluntary guidelines builds upon the success of the Universal Ad Package which was issued in April, 2003 (See Bizcommunity's article about the UAP). Like the UAP, the goal with these Rich Media Guidelines is to make the buying, planning and creative processes more efficient for marketers and their agencies. The final recommended guidelines for Interactive Rich Media In-Page Units are as follows:

Source: www.iab.net

Rich Media usage by advertisers and their agencies is on the rise, which provides continued growth for our industry. In response, it is gratifying that as an industry we have developed a set of recommended guidelines that will enable buyers to build in-page rich media advertising to a common set of specifications." said David Shen, VP International Products, Yahoo! and Chair of the IAB's Rich Media Guidelines Task Force.

By enabling advertisers and their agencies the ability to create ads in a consistent manner the industry is providing a more efficient marketplace thus reducing the barriers of entering the marketplace. Additionally it provides the advertising creative community an opportunity to focus on the advertising not production." said Adam Gelles, Director Industry Initiatives, IAB.

About the IAB:

Founded in 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) represents the leading companies in the interactive space. Membership includes companies that are actively engaged in, and support the sale of interactive advertising in addition to being responsible for selling over 85% of online advertising in the United States IAB members include AOL, CNET Networks, DoubleClick, MSN, Google, Overture, The Walt Disney Internet Group, Yahoo! and over 150 others. On behalf of its members, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices, fields interactive effectiveness research and educates the advertising industry regarding the use of interactive advertising. For more information on the IAB please visit www.iab.net.