Finally, It is time to say goodbye to 300x250, 728x90 ad units! IAB has recently propose new ad portfolio to allow marketers to be more creative on how they run display advertising. The intention of the new format is to promote new lightweight "LEAN" model that is less invasive and faster to load (To counter ad-block) and also allow marketers to have more freedom in display creatives, in the cross device world. Here are few of our thoughts marketers should be thinking about when working with the new ad standards.

Think Cross Platform

Good news that marketers no longer need to create a set of banners for desktop and a set of banners for mobile. Bad news that this doesn't make creatives production and resizing any easy. Marketers and agencies still need to think about 10 different aspect ratio and how each format appears. Using different aspect ratio sizes, marketers can now work with creative agencies to create banners that are available across Desktop, Mobile and Tablets. Ads can now be scaled to different sizes, maintaining their original message and content.

Goodbye to Roadblock Ad, Rich Media

Those fanciful road-block ad and heavy loading rich media ad doesn't seems to fit well in the era of ad-blockers and viewability. One of the major complaint about display ads is file size, and that's one main reason users install ad-blockers. With the adoption of light weight ad format, essentially, the new format will allow ads to run on the page by reducing disrupting user experience.

Unleash your creativity on display format: 360 ads, virtual reality.

Now is the time to start looking to the future with new display formats that are becoming more relevant. 360 ads have already been introduced on Youtube, while augmented reality ads and virtual reality are growing with the tech. With the new VR kits released this year, it has become important to keep up with changes in technology. IAB has allowed for this possibility with the new formats they are introducing. Complete immersion with advertisements is an exciting new prospect for marketers. With the new IAB format, operating through virtual reality tech, marketers can bring this concept to the market.

But it will take a long time for publishers to adopt, probably not till 2018

Now, the new proposed ad units is now in public feedback and the final guideline will be available in Spring 2017. Even til then, it will be a long process for publishers to adopt, and make changes to their ad inventory, and at the same time, creative agencies will also need to get used to the new ad formats. It might take a year for majority of publishers to change the formats. This is something to be mindful of as that may also means marketers may need to create 2 set of banners: Standard banner sizes and new banners based on aspect ratio. And this will certainly increase production cost.

In summary, the new IAB formats will ensure that the online world looks very different to users next year. Ads will be less intrusive and more integrated into the page. The new format will also allow for ads to be both creative and immersive, allowing marketers to capture the full potential of fresh technology. 

In Enzymic, we are already investigating on in-incorporating the new IAB formats. Stay tuned!