Optimal Ad Units Should Not Surprise You

Pete Prestipino
by Pete Prestipino 22 Oct, 2010
Optimal Ad Units Should Not Surprise You

Ad technology and service provider Unicast released a report measuring the results of various online ad formats across several industries. The report includes interesting information on interaction rates and engagement times: 

Interaction Rates - For formats, ads in Messenger Units, Branded Canvases and Expandable Multi Panel had the highest interaction rates.  Not surprisingly, all three of these top-performing formats are following three of the hottest trends in the digital world: social media, online video, and 3D content.  For vertical industries - Restaurants had the highest interaction rates, followed by Health Care/Beauty and Beverage/Spirits. 

Engagement Times - For formats, ads in Messenger Units, Branded Canvas and Pushdowns had the highest average engagement times. For vertical industries - Technology, Home Improvement and Restaurants had the highest engagement times. 

Interactive features like videos, polls, quizzes and games successfully increased engagement time and interaction rates. 

The Benchmark report (available here) analyzes 24 vertical industries and evaluates 12 online ad formats.

Pete Prestipino
Pete Prestipino
Digital marketing executive with proven experience in all aspects of search engine optimization (SEO), performance-based advertising, consumer-generated/social media, email marketing, lead generation, Web design, usability, and analytics. - 20-year Internet marketing veteran, currently serving as the Digital Marketing Campaign Manager at Antenna Group (formerly Chicago Digital). - Former Editor-In-Chief of Website Magazine, and a regular speaker on Web technology digital marketing strategy - Author of several books on digital marketing Including Web 360: The Fundamentals of Web Success; Affiliate 360: The Fundamentals of Performance Marketing; Domains 360: The Fundamentals of Buying & Selling Domain Names, and SEO 360: The Fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization.