While AOL has long been left behind by more successful Internet service providers, the company is still a big player in online advertising and recently unveiled a plan for a new advertising system known as Project Devil, which if adopted, would completely revolutionize the way we view and interact with web pages and web advertising.
More than an ad platform, Project Devil is aiming for a fundamental redesign of the web. Devil ads were created with input from the creative community allowing for a better branding experience with more focus on aesthetics and interactivity. This ad system features a variety of changes from today’s layout including:
Cleaner Pages- a simple look will be created by using advertising to support content and clearly defining each element to reduce the clutter.
Bigger Placements- something more along the lines of today’s magazine experience, with large ‘hero’ images and content blocks dedicated to products.
More Engagement- Placements can be broken up into multiple panels, allowing advertisers to deliver rich media, such as video and slide shows to site visitors without forcing them to leave the page.
Less Noise- AOL plans to run just one Devil ad at a time on its pages, where they will stand out more.
The main goal behind Project Devil is creating a richer online advertising experience and in regards to conversion, studies show that consumers spent 18% more time with Devil ads than basic 300×250 banners, which would seem likely to attract a large number of publishers.
Some of the first brands to sign on with AOL’s new Devil ads are Cheerios, Pillsbury, Lexus, Macy’s and Sprint to name a few.
“that’s why we created Project Devil … Devil ads are much more powerful … Furthermore, Devil pages have been cleaned and stripped … a better web is coming : Project Devil”
seems like they could have come up with at least a little bit better name on this one…