Dive Brief:
- According to ad analytics firm Moat, intrusive "high-impact" digital ads are gaining popularity.
- In 2014 so far, publishers have run 4,971 high-impact ads — compared to 8,989 for all of 2013 — putting the disruptive ads on track to grow by 11% in 2014.
- Moat has classified 11 kinds of ads as high-impact, including skins, overlays, interstitials, and pushdowns.
Dive Insight:
Digital advertising is a wacky place to be in 2014. Ads seem to be going in one of two extremes — either disruptive "high-impact" or barely distinguishable from editorial. It's a Wild West market online and advertisers have to find ways to stand out, so it's only natural that high-impact ads would be one of the things advertisers experiment with. It will be interesting to see the yin and yang play out between native ads and high-impact ads.