A new and rather innovative ad format came across the wire today and it might be something to look into for both publishers and advertisers.

Advertising and affiliate/publisher network Ad Media has unveiled OverlayAd.com, a platform that utilizes existing images and videos from websites for the purpose of monetization. Ad Media is touting the platform as a way for publishers to monetize static content and is claiming the new formats are yielding high-click through rates for advertisers. Since consumers already naturally gravitate towards graphics and video, and network advertisers and publishers see the potential in these types of content, OverlayAds might just be the next feasible way to generate revenue for publishers and drive awareness and web traffic for advertisers.

The Overlay Ad platform support several creative formats including text only ads, static banners (see image below) and rich media. What makes the platform really innovative, besides the contextual targeting algorithm, is that consumers attracted to the ads can actually interact with the advertisements by scrolling, viewing multiple ads, and performing searches without leaving the webpage.

Little in the way of  revenue share for publishers or cost for advertisers was available. WM will keep an eye out on the progress of OverlayAd in the future, but if you see them in the wild do let us know.