C/Net.com - Software Replaces Banner Ads on Top Sites (Aug. 17/01)
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Software replaces banner ads on top sites
By Stephanie Olsen
August 17, 2001
Already contending with a weak advertising
market, Web publishers have another beast to worry about: Gator.
The software company, known for hawking pop-up ads that let companies advertise
on rival sites, is working a new variation on the theme--selling ads designed
to block banners on sites such as Yahoo with pop-ups of the exact same dimensions,
completely obscuring the original ad. The pop-ups hover over the banners even
when the Web visitor scrolls down the page, making it even more difficult to
discern that the visible ad is a substitute.
"It's like getting Time magazine in the mailbox and somebody
has pulled it out and pasted their own ad over the ones inside," said John
Keck, media director for Foote Cone & Belding's interactive division.
And because Gator can monitor a person's surfing habits across
the Web, the technology can learn a person's tastes and deliver related advertising
on any site, rather than serve ads based on general site demographics.
For example, if a Gator user had visited the Volkswagen Web site
in the past day, the service might show him a banner ad for car insurance while
he's surfing on the ESPN Web site.
Gator's banner would appear over the banner space on ESPN's site
"two seconds after the page loaded," said Scott Eagle, chief marketing
officer for Gator.
