Top-Tier Publishers to Launch More Intrusive Web Ads

The Web has long relegated advertising to the sidelines as part of a do-not-interrupt mandate that separated cyberspace venues from traditional media. That's slowly changing. A group of top-tier publishers, including The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, has signed up to test a new initiative that plops commercials in front of users as they arrive at Web sites, blocking the content. They will have the option to close the ads after 10 seconds. The spots then retreat into traditional banner placements. The video placements are designed to appear when users arrive at sites through links on social networking sites or via search engines. For content sites, that means access to high-priced video ads even when their content is text. The move to get more interruptive follows on the heals of the Online Publishers Association rolling out big new ad units that will take up large chunks of on-screen real estate. What's more, publishers have taken to other interruptive ad tactics, like units that autoplay video with sound and, of course, pre-roll spots before video content.