Network Wants to Put Some Zing in the Web

Zing Network Inc., one of the newest entries in the rich media advertising arena, created a content/advertising concept that downloads a customizable play list of pictures, videos, animation, music and advertising onto users’ screens as Web pages load.

Zing, as the downloadable application is called, is a complete network with its own collection of channels.

With Zing, the San Francisco-based company said full screen-size content or advertiser spots appear instantly while a browser is launching, and deliver their messages in less than five seconds. Once a Web page has fully loaded, the spot disappears within seconds and then reappears as a tiny window on the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Thus Zing receives page-views every time a user is on any new Web page. On average this would occur between 105 and 175 times per week. If, after six months, the company achieves its goal of 500,000 unique users, it would be cashing in on an average of 70 million page-views per week, according to a report on ChannelSeven’s TurboAds.com. This would have Zing ranking among the top 10 most heavily trafficked Web sites.

David Reich, Zing’s director of sales, was quoted as saying: “Ninety percent of our offerings will be entertainment content and 10 percent will be advertising.” Initially though, Zing is not going to broadcast advertising until at least the beginning of fourth quarter 1998. “Our total push right now is to get content partnerships, and grow a user base,” Reich said.