Streaming Media Ahead

As faster Web connections and increased bandwidth become more widely available, many insiders are looking to a moving picture future for online advertising.

According to Corteville, streaming commercials are already gaining a strong Web presence. "Hewlett-Packard has a TV commercial available for viewing on their landing pad. Many of our clients are planning to do that in the next three months as well."

Increased use of expandable banner ads -- allowing customers to obtain further information without leaving the original site -- lies ahead, according to Corteville. He added that more attention is also being paid to the design of Internet ads, to give them the same look and feel as a company's outdoor billboards, print ads and TV commercials.

While e-mail promotions accounted for only two percent of online advertising budgets in 1999, Think New Ideas Media Planner Joanna Pitt says that e-mail will become a more important tool in the near future.

"There are a lot of new technologies -- mini-movies and movie trailers can be embedded in e-mail messages. Users won't have to go anywhere else or even open separate files to view them," she said.

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