BellSouth, Comet Systems, Flycast Launch Cursor Ad Campaign

Comet Systems said its patent-pending Comet Cursor technology is the centerpiece of a first-ever cursor ad campaign for The Real Yellow Pages ONLINE from BellSouth via the Flycast Network.

Comet Systems entered into an agreement with Flycast that allows advertisers to deploy branded Comet Cursor Ads over the network. This allows any of Flycast’s affiliate Web sites to change a Web surfer’s cursor so that it matches an online banner advertisement.

BellSouth has created custom “Walking Fingers” cursors in conjunction with its banner ad campaigns. The “arrow” cursor changes into an animated “Walking Fingers” cursor as you scroll over the BellSouth banner ad on Flycast’s affiliate sites.

In addition, the cursor changes to a static “Walking Fingers” cursor over the entire page when a Web surfer visits www.thekiss.com, www.ecards.com, or www.regards.com. On all participating sites, the BellSouth cursor ad animates as it crosses the ad, with the fingers “doing the walking.” Spending on the campaign was not disclosed.

The Comet Cursor’s small size (the animated BellSouth cursor is a 2.1 kilobytes) makes it compatible with any Web browser, even for those using a dial-up connection, Comet said. The same banner is used regardless of whether or not users download the Comet Cursor, eliminating the need for advertisers to develop multiple versions of the same campaign.

“We are very excited about the Comet Cursor concept, it is just too clever to ignore,” said Melissa Honabach, senior advertising manager for The Real Yellow Pages ONLINE. “The cursor is the key to Web site navigation and it always draws the eye.”