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It’s been a long 20 years since AOL ushered us into what was the unfamiliar realm known as online. Since then, the company has survived its share of problems but we forget that, for a while, AOL was as one blogger put it “the innovative darling of the 1990s”.
Perhaps that same spirit of innovation is behind AOL’s Project Devil – codename for their new ad format. The company is hoping that by not only revamping how their display ads look, but also how they act, it can “attract more ad dollars from big brands and revitalize its business.”
The new ads will be revealed formally during the AdvertisingWeek conference later this month, but for now we know that they use more real estate and include a whole host of special functions. Divided into three sections that serve up everything from photo galleries and embedded video to social network feeds and store locators, the format looks promising. Other functionalities include slideshows, shopping and a 360° product view.
If AOL is hoping to remind us that innovation was the root of its beginnings, this may be a start. Only time will tell whether the big brands will jump on board — and whether other sites will take a page from the history books and follow AOL’s lead.
Tags: aol / innovation / project devil / advertising week