Vignette Ads
A vignette ad is a full-page ad that shows while a visitor moves from one page of your site to the next. They already chose to stay on your site, so the ad interrupts nothing they were trying to do, and closing it takes them straight to the page they clicked.
In GoAdserver a vignette is a full-page ad zone with one switch: show it only on links to your own site. Try the live vignette demo.
How a vignette ad works
The ad zone code sits on every page of your site. When a visitor clicks a link, the ad server checks whether that click really leads to another page of the same site. If it does, a full-page ad opens first, with a clear label and a close button. When the visitor closes it, the browser continues to the page they clicked. Nothing changes in your links or your navigation: the code reads the click and steps in only when the rules allow it.
The ad is the same full-page format you already sell on the ad formats page, so the same campaigns fill it: CPM, flat-rate deals and run-of-network campaigns.
Clicks that never show it
A vignette is only worth having if it never gets in the way, so these clicks always behave like normal links:
- links to another website,
- a Ctrl or Cmd click or a middle click, which opens the link in a new tab,
- jumps within the same page, such as a link to the comments,
- email and phone links, and downloads.
All but the first also apply when the zone is set to show on any link, so a full-page ad zone never takes over a new-tab click or a jump within the page.
Frequency: how often a visitor sees one
A vignette uses the frequency settings of full-page ads. You choose after how many clicks the first one shows, how often it repeats after that, and a minimum time before the same visitor sees another one. A common start is the first one after one or two page views and at most one every 30 to 60 minutes. Visitors who browse many pages per visit see it a few times, without it following every click.
When to use a vignette
- Your visitors read several pages per visit: news, guides, galleries, listings.
- You want the earnings of a full-page ad without pop-ups or ads on the first page view.
- You want visitors who leave for another site to leave without an ad in their way.
Publishers who run their own sites or a network of them can set it per zone; see the publisher ad server for how zones, sites and reports fit together.
Set it up
- Create a full-page ad zone for your site.
- Under Show on clicks on, pick Links to this site only (vignette).
- Set the frequency, and save.
- Copy the zone code onto every page of the site.
The settings are described in the documentation on interstitial and full page ad zones. They are also in the public API: fpa_settings.link_scope set to internal, with start_at, repeat_at and refreshtime for the frequency, so you can create and change vignette zones from your own tools.
See it live
The vignette demo runs a real zone on a demo account. Click a link to another article in the sample travel page and the vignette shows; click a link to another site, a jump to the comments or an email link and nothing happens. The page also shows the zone’s code. More formats are on the live demo pages.
Frequently asked questions
What is a vignette ad?
A full-page ad that shows between two pages of the same site. The visitor clicks a link to another of your pages, the ad opens first, and closing it opens the page they clicked.
Do vignette ads hurt the user experience or SEO?
A vignette never covers the page a visitor arrives on, from a search result or anywhere else: it only shows on a click to another page of your site. Links to other sites, new-tab clicks, jumps within the page, email and phone links and downloads never show it, and the frequency settings keep it from following every click.
How often does a visitor see a vignette?
You decide on the zone: after how many page views the first one shows, every how many page views it repeats, and a minimum time of 1 minute up to 24 hours before the same visitor sees another one. You can also leave out countries, browsers and device types.