Google ads to become latest Web nuisance
Posted
Sep 19 2007, 12:49 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Someday soon, we'll long for the days when Google ads behaved themselves. When they used to sit calmly on the side of search results, quietly hawking cheap airfares or brand name watches.
Today Google said it's testing advertising widgets, officially known as Gadget Ads. These ads can be animations, videos and even mini Web sites, and are designed to interact with Web users. Advertisers can measure exactly how much video was watched or how long a game was played.
You can see examples of the ads here. Be warned: the Sierra Mist one is so painful your eyes will need hours to recover.
According to The New York Times, the ads are Google's attempt "to attract big brand advertisers who like flashy ad units rather than the simple text ads commonly run in Google’s ad network."
Just what the Web needed. More flashy ads. I thought Google had lifted the Web out of that morass of bad animated advertising that didn't work. Guess that wasn't what advertisers wanted.
