Skip to Content

Ad Attack

Web users waiting for pages to load find their days filled with innumerable small delays-long enough to break the rhythm, but too short to do other work. These moments represent prime real estate to Internet marketeers, who see the gaps as a perfect opportunity to squeeze in a commercial message. That’s the logic behind “webmercials”-a new form of advertising that should begin appearing in the coming months. KMGI.com, a New York ad agency, is creating eye-popping animations that appear on the screen during gaps in an online session. The webmercials use vector graphics, which describe an image with succinct mathematics rather than specifying each pixel. Thus tiny files-typically 25 kilobytes-can deliver audiovisual spots lasting 5 to 7 seconds.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

DeepMind’s cofounder: Generative AI is just a phase. What’s next is interactive AI.

“This is a profound moment in the history of technology,” says Mustafa Suleyman.

What to know about this autumn’s covid vaccines

New variants will pose a challenge, but early signs suggest the shots will still boost antibody responses.

Human-plus-AI solutions mitigate security threats

With the right human oversight, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence can help keep business and customer data secure

Next slide, please: A brief history of the corporate presentation

From million-dollar slide shows to Steve Jobs’s introduction of the iPhone, a bit of show business never hurt plain old business.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.