Prodigy, the online-advertising pioneer, adopted a publication model. Each of its screens has a billboard, or leader ad, at the bottom. Users point and click on the ad if they want to see more. However, it soon will offer a second format playing down advertising after users complained. America Online takes the unobtrusive approach.
Typical advertising is designed to be intrusive.
To get advertising on AOL, users point and click on icons leading to shopping areas or to areas developed by advertisers, such as American Express Co.'s new ExpressNet. Its screen-bottom control panel includes a small area with advertising messages that rotate periodically, perhaps every 20 to 40 seconds. To obtain more information, users point and click on the area. Stay online for developments. The New York Times' Scott recalls a debate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab over a system where a user creates an interest profile and only receives commercial messages that match the profile.