Online Media Daily ran an article on what they termed, “The Interactive Advertising Revolution.” They raised some interesting and enlightening points:

* Interactive video is today’s the most visible driver in terms of ad performance. According to a June 2007 Online Publishing Association report, of the 80% of viewers who watched a video ad online, 52% took some sort of action, whether checking out a Web site (31%), searching for more info (22%), going into a store (15%), or actually making a purchase (12%). As such, eMarketer is predicting that video is going to see the biggest growth in spend in 2008, with an increase of 48.9%.

* With each new emerging ad venue comes a new opportunity, but the ultimate key to success for each is the same: interactivity. As emerging formats like IPTV, mobile, 3D and virtual worlds become more popular, advertisers will benefit when the venue evolves to the point where it can accommodate truly interactive ad experiences that attract more audiences and engage them longer.

* Today’s in-page ads let users expand them to reveal even more media and interactivity, and can feature multiple videos, audio tracks, games and more that provoke users to spend not only seconds with ads, but minutes. Recent EyeWonder campaigns have even featured up to forty minutes of video in one ad unit, generating unprecedented view times that are quickly approaching an hour!

* Interactive Digital Advertising will generate brand engagements and returns on investment that seemed unimaginable even ten years ago. In this new world, passive venues will become afterthoughts, and forward-thinking brands will interact to own the marketplace.

* Studies show that publishers benefit from the interactive revolution through an increased number of visitors to their sites and enhanced site “stickiness” (users spending more time on the site). More importantly, publishers are typically able to generate more ad revenue from richer, interactive ads than their passive counterparts.