iMedia: You've complained that publishers have forced marketers into a straightjacket of standard ad units too small for brands to breathe. And you introduced two non-standard units on your sites: the marquee, which is 1,000x250 pixels at the top of each page, and the panorama, 800x250 within posts. It sounds like you're saying the bigger, the better.
Denton: We aspire to the production values that Conde Nast is known for in the magazine world. Why shouldn't online ads be as gloriously glossy as a spread in Vanity Fair? (Oh, and the bigger, better ads provide enough space for video, too.)
iMedia: But ad units were standardized to make it easier for creative agencies to produce them, media agencies to place them and publishers' reps to see them. Do you think those concerns were invalid? Or are they just a bunch of whiners?
Denton: All I know is that clients are all over our custom offerings, and I haven't seen those clickthrough rates for the last 10 years.
iMedia: Do you think we'll see any big shifts or changes in the online marketing industry in the coming year, revenue aside?
Denton: The best thing that's happening is that all the distractions -- the moronic widget makers and other fads, the me-too knock-off sites, the bogus viral programs -- are being eliminated. Media buyers have time again, and they seem to be devoting it to the properties that will still be around at the end of next year.
iMedia: What's your advice to online advertisers who want to make the most of opportunities with their surviving properties?
Denton: I have just one bit of advice. After looking at the Nielsen numbers for a network, do a simple test: Have you or your friends actually heard of any of these properties? Way too much money is still going to networks such as Glam, which amalgamates random blogs and disengages passthrough visitors. It's embarrassing that the advertising industry hasn't yet figured that out.
iMedia: Now, give us some hope. Any bright spots for next year?
Denton: This economic downturn is an extinction-level event. It will be bad for the dinosaurs -- but great for any mammals that survive.
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Susan Kuchinskas is a freelance writer who has written for Adweek, Business 2.0, M-Business and internetnews.com.
