The Truth About Media And Rich Media Ads

Most advertising agencies and ad servers want you to be using rich media ads because of the extra tools and features that can be used with them. What many of these agencies and servers forget to mention is that standard media ads can accomplish most, if not all of the same things that rich media ads can when used correctly. That is not o say that there are not advantages to using rich media ads. It is jus to inform you that you specifically may not need to spend extra money developing and displaying rich media ads if you can do the same things with standard ads that you would be doing with rich media ads.

Before you can decide on what kind of media to use for your ads, you need to have an understanding of both standard media and rich media advertisements.
Basic Media Ads

Basic or standard media ads can come in many forms and formats. Some people will say that flash is not included in basic media ads, but the truth is that flash can be and is used in basic media ads that are on the Internet today. What is more important to look at is how ad serving services differ between standard and rich media ads.

Let’s say you are using basic flash banner ads to run an advertising campaign for your business. Below are some things that you should expect to come across with standard ads.

Simple Tracking Tools – The one main tracking tool that you should have no matter what kind of banner ad you are using is an impression counter. This will count how many impressions your banner makes on a webpage.
Limited File Size – The file size of your ad is going to be limited. Flash ads can take up a lot of space, so the limit will make sure that your ad is not slowing down a webpage or taking up too much space on it.
Platform Limitation – You are somewhat on your own with creating your ads and how their platforms. This may be fine if you know what you are doing, but can be difficult for new Internet advertisers.

Remember, you are not limited to just these things when using basic banner ads. These are just the standard things that come with it. For a small investment, you can add things like more detailed tracking information and other tools that will help you with your campaign.
Rich Media Ads

Platform is very important with rich media ads. Other important things associated with rich media ads include tracking tools and the size of the ads that can be displayed.

Advanced Tracking System – The tracking tools used with rich media are much more advanced than they are with standard ads. You will have multiple exit links, be able to track events, and also track impressions. What you can track with your ads may depend on your ad server, so it is important to find out this information before you choose an ad server.

Advanced platforms will provide you with the most tracking tools. The reason for this is that the more advanced platforms use the top technology available to track data that other platforms do not have the ability to track.

You should ask yourself what tracking tools you will use and what tools will you not use when choosing an ad server and when choosing what kinds of ads to display.

Bigger File Sizes
The size of your files is going to be much bigger with rich media than it would be with standard media. This can be both good and bad. It will let you display more content or use more technology with your ads, but it can also make your ads too big so that you will have to use a separate uploading method in order to display your ads without harming the loading process of the webpage that the ads are on.

You should ask yourself how important the media taking up extra space on your ads is before choosing to display it. If it is not important, the size it takes up may be better left alone or put to better use.

More Advanced Platform
Research the platform you are going to be using and find out where it commonly succeeds and where it commonly fails before you begin to use it. The more you know about your advanced platform, the better you will be able to use it by maximizing its advantages and minimizing its disadvantages.

Do not try and do too much on your own so that you destroy you platform and do not get to use its features and technology. Platforms have advanced to the point where they can do most of your work automatically for you.

Future

Rich media has been steadily progressing and will continue to progress in the future. You should realize that while some say the future is here, there is still going to be more in the future.

It is up to you to decide what kind of media you want to use and how you want to display it. Now that you know the difference between standard and rich media, you can choose what type of media will fit your ads best.

MediaFane Articles is powered by Otlix Ad Server solutions for Publishers and Advertisers.

Otlix has been dedicated to optimizing the use of media since 2006. They provide media solutions as Ad Serving, Ad Delivery, Ads Rotation, Video Advertising and Ad Management tools. These tools can be used to simplify and better ad Campaigns, and they give you a comprehensive overview of all of your campaigns with their smart Analytics and Statistics system.

By: Naor

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