Online advertising has been popular ever since the onset of the Internet. Advertising is used as the chief source of income for the majority of websites, thus making the advertising industry a consistently expanding one. Due to the huge presence of ads, companies are being forced to find innovative ways to reach consumers, who are much more aware of marketing techniques and resistant to classical advertising techniques.



The newest form of advertisement is known as the audio ad, which many believe is the greatest thing since Pay Per Click. Known as Pay Per Play, audio ads are short messages which play when a user lands on a page. They are usually only around five seconds, and run while the user waits for the page to load. Installing them is simple; all the webmaster needs to do is upload a code in to their site's backend, and the ads will automatically play.

PPP is incredibly attractive to webmasters, as like regular CPM ads, all traffic is monetized, as opposed to PPC ads, where webmasters only make money from visitors who click. PPP utilizes a bid management system, where advertisers bid for placement on websites. The highest bidders are seen on the most websites, and this competition is particularly beneficial to website owners, as the higher an advertiser pays, the more money the webmaster receives.

Companies are becoming very fond of this creative advertising technique, as it allows them to place their message in to the minds of thousands of Internet users daily. Ads can be targeted to specific demographics, interests, locations, and even times and dates. In addition, the ad is inescapable, unless the user has their sound turned off. Statistics show that 20% of Internet users browse with their speakers off, and PPP websites acknowledge this fact and thus charge a little less to advertisers because of it.

Webmasters get paid no matter what, whether or not the user has their sound on. Unlike TV, radio, and other advertising methods, a user (with sound enabled) will always receive the advertising message, as it is presented to them in their normal browsing activities. There is no way to ignore or avoid it, but being that the ads are so short, they are not excessively bothersome to users.

Like other forms of contextual advertising, PPP ads are played on websites that are relevant to the advertiser. For example, a company that sells home hardware supplies would have their ads placed on a forum or blog of that nature, so each ad would be maximally effective. The advanced characteristics of PPP mean that advertisers need to pay more than they would with other forms of ads, but many companies do not mind the trade-off, as they believe they will receive more benefit for the added cost.

As audio ads become more prevalent and customized, it is expected that this emerging industry will grow at a phenomenal rate. PPP does not interfere with other ads, so in a sense, it is just extra money that a webmaster can pick up by simply adding a code to their site. Being that audio ads have not been around that long, they are only used by a small percentage of websites, and many Internet users may not have even encountered them yet. In the next few years, however, it may be impossible to find a website that does not have some form of audio ad on it.