Interactive Websites: the new trend in advertising

The eerie screeching, groaning moans of a dial up modem bring chills to those who remember using or still use the very limited internet connectivity it provides. No one could have predictedthe functionality and dependence which many have developed upon the internet in the past thirty-seven years . With the dependence upon information available on the web, how does one differentiate between valid and invalid information? There are many methods by which persons are choosing more professional and legitimate websites, all of which are on the internet itself. For individuals seeking this type of information, both the WebAwards and the Webby Awards provide a great means of discovering the sites which have been evaluated and promoted by top professionals in internet related fields. Their mission is simple and effective. As posted on their website “The Web Marketing Association was founded in 1997 to help set a high standard for Internet marketing and web development on the World Wide Web. Staffed by volunteers, this organization is made up of Internet marketing, online advertising, PR, and web site design professionals who share an interest in improving the quality of online advertising, internet marketing, and website promotion.” With this motto, the organization scrutinizes many websites every year and of those sites, they give out awards which recognize excellence in many aspects.

One such website which survived the scrutiny of the WebAward’s grasp is one that goes by the alias of Geoterra. This site won a 2005 WebAward for Oustanding Acheivement in Website Development in the Advertising Industry. Even though it did withstand the standards of this respectable site, there are some slight errors which may have escaped the minds of its creators. The website is wonderfully decorated and interactive but the lack of content may make it seem almost juvenile. What the main takeaway is that although there is not as much textual content within the site as compared to others, the medium, target audience, and internet trends all prove that this type of site caters to the needs of the typical internet user and does not overwhelm the audience with too much text. Geoterra provides a comfortable, easily navigatible experience which effectively informs the audience without overstimulation. By combining pleasurable graphics and concise but sparse descriptive paragraphs, the site's design ideally targets the advertising medium and makes the visit enjoyable and informative.

Based upon the environmentally friendly products designed by General Electric, Geoterra promotes the ecomagination initiative. Although the ecomagination site is not a typical informational site, it does provide quite a bit of useful information through use of video mini-lectures by prominent members of the General Electric team. As demonstrated to the left, these figures come to life and explain the purpose of the initiative. The main goal is that they are "addressing the problems of tomorrow, today." In order to facilitate these goals many products were designed to effectively help financially stable individuals as well as aid communities where resources are very scarce. These products include a highly effective water filtration system and a highly efficient windmill energy source. This project is one which produces very real and attainable solutions to many of the problems in the world faces today and in doing so, it must be promoted in an effective and expansive manner.

Although Geoterra acquired it's award through the WebAward process, the Webby Awards judging criteria provide a more intensive set of guidelines which can more easily be applied to the site. The Webby Awards judging criteria are separated into three separate categories: Websites, Interactive Advertising, and Online Film and Video. Geoterra is a hybrid of both a website and an interactive advertising agent so therefore it will be judged from both perspectives. "Content is the information provided on the site. It is not just text, but music, sound, animation, or video -- anything that communicates a sites body of knowledge." Content, as described by the Webby Awards, ensures that a site has a voice of its own and is clear about what it is promoting. Geoterra accomplishes this goal by exuding a feeling from the very moment one enters the site. The soothing island music, friendly islander animations and island noises setup a certain perspective on the products being promoted. There is a laid back notion which makes the audience feel as if they are part of the experience and incorporates them into the island experience.Upon entrance on the island, the whole site is aimed at making the user feel like they are helping a greater cause while enjoying themselves at the same time. It plays upon human beings natural tendency to want to help people in need while also touching on the inner child in every person. By providing a relavant activity for each dilemma, Geoterra puts the product into context in the real world. An example of how Geoterra involves the user in a big way is the "Harness the Wind" dilemma to the right. For every dilemma, including this one, there is a mini description of how the product works and what it does to help the community become more efficient. The site does not just claim to be more efficient, it gives concrete numbers of households that can be powered determined by the number of windmills and the wind speed that the user picks. This inclusion principle is furthered by games that follow the interactive information session. Each product has a relavant game which uses the information learned in the mini description to help the community of Geoterra. Once an individual has played a game, they recieve points for how many levels they passed in the game. This score is then recorded at the bottom left of the screen in the purple Geoscore area. Users are urged to save their score and return to the website at a later time to increase the score. This process is a great means by which Geoterra attains their return vistors.

Another means by which the Webby Awards evaluates a website is based upon the Structure and Navigation. When observing a site, the Webby Awards criteria insist that "good navigation gets you where you want to go quickly and offers easy access to the breadth and depth of the site's content." Geoterra is a very simple website but in that design, it provides a very easily navigated. The index page of the site is a very aesthetically pleasing island which consists of blue rain drop links and a quick link menu at the bottom left corner. The blue rain drops with the exclamation point within them denote an activity/product that is being promoted. All five of those rain drop activities also have a quick link at the bottom of the page. There are two ways to get to the same mini-site therefore allowing the user easy and convenient access to all aspects of hte site. Once a user clicks either one of the quick links or a rain drop, a bubble page appears on the screen where the next mini description appears. Within this bubble, the options are very simple: one can continue to the game associated with the product, go back to the main page by clicking back or by clicking the "X" in the top right corner of the mini-page. Geoterra provides multiple ways to do the same thing because they want to be as easily explorable as possible.

Another criterion emphasized in the judging criteria of the Webby Awards is the Visual Design aspect of a website. As written in the criteria, "Good visual design is high quality, appropriate, and relevant for the audience and the message it is supporting." Geoterra continues its island/environment theme within the visual design as well by incorporating all of the graphic design within the island. The colors are very calming and not too bright and the moving graphics all are within the surface of the island. There is a consistent style to the all of the images on the site and it is this cohesive element which allows the user to navigate freely without distraction of obnoxious graphics which may try influence the user to navigate elsewhere. The lack of flashy media is consistent with the calm and relaxed feel of the site and urges the user to explore the site how they so choose.

Another rather important aspect of a site which also fits into the Webby Awards judging criteria is that of Functionality. Although it is a wonderfully aesthetic, effective and provacative site, Geoterra is not a very functional site for all individuals. Due to the multitude of moving graphics and interactive games, this site has a high content of items to be loaded upon entrance to the site. With that in mind, the majority of internet users do not have high-speed or broadband internet and therefore would choose not enter this site because of the long load times. As the guidelines explain, "The most functional sites also take into consideration those with special access needs. Good functionality makes the experience center stage and the technology invisible." Geoterra does not make the technology invisible but they do attempt to diminish the evidence of technology in a few ways. By referring to the loading of the main page as the site "calculating your travel path" the individual does not immediately recognize this as the loading of a page. Another way that the site minimizes technology is by referring to loading in any other context as "harmonizing." Although the site does limit its audience by its high content, for the individuals who can experience the webpage with high-speed access, it is a very lovely site to visit.

A rather important criteria through the Webby Awards is interactivity, but because the site is almost a completely interactive advertising site, the next criteria will be taken from the Interactive Advertising criteria of integration. This criteria deals with the questions: "How well the work is implemented in the medium? Can you fully experience the quality of the work, or are there technical or media specific issues preventing you from experiencing it to its fullest?" Geoterra does an incredible job of making sure the user is involved and interacting with the website at all times. From the very beginning, the site welcomes the user and invites them to help the islanders make the island more environmentally friendly. Each product that is advertised has its own interactive game which includes the information from the mini-site and uses that information to allow the user to interact with the product and demonstrate exactly how helpful the product is. Like a usual advertising campaign, the site does have main takeway as well: that the products are useful, good for the environment and fun too.

Advertising is a medium which constantly changes to accommodate how people think feel and move about the world. The internet is no exception to this phenomenon and it has drastically changed how advertisers effectively target their audience. Interactive websites which correlate with the billboards and television commercials are now a common form of advertisement. With that in mind, products have to stand out by doing something a little different and one website that does execute this concept very effectively is Geoterra. Although it may have very limited common text, the website promotes the products in such a way as to entertain the audience while still informing and sparking interest.

The WebAwards and Webby Awards are not the only experts on how sites should be executed. The Web Style Guide is another standard by which individuals can analyze websites and ensure their internet viewing is on par. The Web Style guide merely offers the correct way to create a site and does not analyze sites nor does it give out rating. The site is divided into many categories from the type of site to certain aspects of a site. According to the guide on entertainment, “entertainment sites usually cater to an audience whose interests and motivations are usually much less focused. This audience needs to be grabbed immediately by compelling graphic and text presentations, or they'll simply hop somewhere else in search of stimulation.” This excerpt explains perfectly what Geoterra accomplished by creating their interactive island. Without such a visually and aural pleasing design, the site would not be as enthralling. Although it does contain that there should be text presentations as well, the text present in the site is sufficient enough for the context of the promotion. Another point with the Web Style Guide points out as a major page design point is that “Subtle pastel shades of colors typically found in nature make the best choices for background or minor elements. Avoid bold, highly saturated primary colors except in regions of maximum emphasis, and even there use them cautiously.” Geoterra uses light blues, greens, yellow and a very subtle purple. All of the colors are very aesthetically pleasing to the eye without distractions to any certain area. A criticism of the site which the guide would point out is the overuse of graphic embellishments. “The tools of graphic emphasis are powerful and should be used only in small doses for maximum effect. Overuse of graphic emphasis leads to a "clown's pants" effect in which everything is garish and nothing is emphasized.” Although the guide would argue that the site does not accentuate any one object because of the abundance of eye candy, the graphical design has a theme which makes the site more cohesive and easy to access. Until everyone has the access to high-speed iternet access, the guide urges not to place too many graphics on the site because “a full-screen graphic menu on your home page plus background graphics could leave your modem-based readers twiddling their thumbs for a full minute or more, even if they have a state-of-the-art modem and a good Internet connection.” Another point which the Web Style Guide emphasizes is the use of animation in specific circumstances. As shown in the multimedia portion of the site: "Simple animation on a Web site's main home page can provide just the right amount of visual interest to invite users to explore your materials...Also, subtle animation such as a rollover can help guide the user to interface elements that they might otherwise overlook." The guide warns once again of the problems with having an abundance of graphics because it increases the load time for individauls and limits the access of some. Despite the occasional disparities between what the Web Style Guide dictates and how Geoterra is designed, mostly the site follows very closely with what Web Style Guide considers an effective website.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a internet based mission to "produce(s) reports that explore the impact of the Internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life." According to an article found on this site, internet penetration has become quite a phenomenon within the contemporary world. According to a study done in an earlier article Generations Online, 88% of 18-29 yr olds use the internet and 73% of adults use the internet. With such a large proportion of the population using the internet, it makes sense that advertising is moving towards the use of internet ads and interactive media.

Despite the disagreement with the amount of content on the website, Geoterra is an exceptional site which uses a new means of interactive advertising to effectively target a new audience and sell a product while entertaing the user. This type of site marks a new trend in the advertising spectrum and the fact that it was conceived in 2005 shows that this site was one of the first to attempt this new form. Geoterra is a site which opens the eyes of its users, gets them involved and sells a product without the user even realizing it.