Hotbar Unveils Version 3.0, Gains First Advertiser
Hotbar.com has released version 3.0 of its sponsored Web-browser-toolbar technology and today named Priceline.com as the first advertiser to use its new "smart button" offering.
Available for free download at www.hotbar.com, the company's flagship product is a plug-in that creates a branded toolbar residing below the main toolbar of the Internet Explorer browser.
Unlike the previous version of Hotbar, where the buttons remained static, version 3.0's buttons change depending on what sites users visit. To make this possible, New York-based Hotbar categorized 2.5 million Web sites into 3,000 major categories and 200,000 niche categories.
Advertisers can now promote their company or product via a branded "smart button" on the toolbar. The buttons allow advertisers to optimize their reach by placement on contextually appropriate sites, said Oren Dobronsky, Hotbar co-founder and CEO.
For example, if a user goes to a travel site, the Hotbar on the user's browser will now deliver a Priceline branded smart button in addition to other related-topic buttons, such as hotels and airlines.
Hotbar is primarily known for its collection of 60,000 browser-toolbar "skins." These decorative "skins" feature images ranging from a picture of the band U2 to a desert scene. Currently, 13 million users have downloaded the "skins" and toolbar.
Though some have criticized the tactic of placing ads against a potential competitor's site as "hijacking," Dobronsky argued that the toolbar is not intrusive to users. "If you don't want to click on a button, you don't have to," he said. "[The toolbar] makes a suggestion at the top of your browser."
For Priceline, the offering "puts us in a location where consumers are checking out other prices," said Brett Keller, Priceline svp, marketing. "It puts us in a good position to capture that audience."
Costs for the branded smart button are done on a cost-per-click basis. (Advertisers are only charged when users click on the button.) The costs range from less than a dollar to several dollars, depending on the industry.
--- Sarah J. Heim
Published: August 27, 2001
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