Frames are definitely back. More and more Web apps like the Diggbar are using frames to overlay a thin toolbar on top of other Websites, and the practice is causing some controversy because frames are generally frowned upon as messy Web design. Today, VideoEgg is introducing a new ad unit called the Twig, which looks like a toolbar either at the top or bottom of a Web page. The Twig ad bar frames the site and is always visible no matter how far a reader scrolls down the page. When you click on the bar, you get a three-second warning before a VideoEgg ad takes over the whole page as an overlay. You can see a preview of how it works here.
Twig is designed for blogs an other sites with comments and other elements that create long pages and cause readers to scroll down past the regular ad units normally on the side. The ads that appear after you click can be any of a variety of video or other interactive ads that VideoEgg specializes in. The Twig ad bar itself is similar to an increasingly common ad unit in videos: an overlay bar along the bottom that you click on to see the full ad.
I like the fact that VideoEgg is taking something that seems to be working in video ads and bringing it over to regular Websites. And the Twig ad bar is certainly preferable to those annoying ad units you see on some major news sites that pop up in the middle of the page and move down as you scroll, blocking what you are trying to read. (Note to advertisers: those floating ads do nothing but make me associate my feelings of anger with your brand). The thin bar at the top or bottom is unobtrusive enough and opt-in. And since it will be the sites themselves rather than a third party app imposing the frame, it probably won’t raise as many objections as something like the Diggbar. After all, as a pervasive ad unit it is not so bad.
The issue is not so much Twig on its own, it is the recent proliferation of frames across the Web. What happens when two or more frames collide? You get a bunch of toolbars stacked on top of one another, diminishing the available real estate on any given page. What starts out as a clean, unobtrusive toolbar can quickly become clutter. For instance, if you use the Diggbar on that Twig preview page, it looks like this:
Oh my goodness, people are going to start putting ads in these toolbars and abuse it. Perfect.
Nice bar though if it is not overdone.
I like the idea, it should work well if the ads can have some relevancy to the blog comments you’re reading at that given time.
Why do I keep seeing Digg blamed for the “recent proliferation” of frames on the web? Wasn’t Facebook really the first mainstream web 2.0 site to implement it again?
Facebook isn’t framing external content.
Look, it’s going to take about a week for breakout scripts to become prevalent and make frames irrelevant once again. It’s a gambit by the framers (Digg, et al) to squeeze some eyeballs and money out of the system before people wise up.
Just the mere fact that it’s possible to double-bar means this idea is not thought through and (I believe) cannot survive. None of the implementers are planning on it.
I thought the general school of thought was that frames in general suck, no matter what content they’re “framing”.
No?
Facebook does frame content- and was definitely the first site in awhile to do it.
The difference is that sites now do it with class- they provide useful tools (such as the ability to Digg an article- previously, the site itself had to provide a Digg button, and sites that had one tended to have a higher number of Diggs), and are easy to close (and, in Digg’s case, disable permanently).
It doesn’t hurt Google rankings- Digg still links to the original site, the Diggbar link is only added via the onclick attribute.
So far, I feel Facebook and Digg have done a good job implementing it- however, like any “good” technology, this will inevitably lead to other sites implementing it in an annoying, overused or “bad” way.
I think this frame/bar is going to take off like wildfire and probably will replace the banner because you have it now more conveniently visible while you scroll. It isn’t really technically a HTML frame, it looks like html fixed javascript or flash like the person said below. It could be little annoying. Personally I don’t want to see any banners/frames floating around the screen.
There’s no such thing as a good frame based toolbar and if you’re not blocking the DiggBar, you’re part of the problem.
http://tomuse.c...onsible-spambar
I am still amazed at the lack of memory people have regarding the chaos that ensued when frames were popularized in the late 90’s. Hopefully large publishers will follow the lead of others like the NY Times, O’Reilly Media, and Engadget to squash these spambars before they take over the Web.
this is an act of desperation, plain and simple
I predict this company will go deadpool. This toolbar is a lame attempt and too late to the game. Time to start layoffs!
Let’s iFrame Web Party like it’s 1999!
Time to blow the dust of those old frame prevention scripts for websites, thought we’d never need them again after about 6 years ago…
Here is a toolbar for you guys. http://www.tiseme.com
The linked example doesn’t work for me in Safari 4 on Mac
Good, thanks for share.
Could video egg be worth a billion dollars??
hahahahaha
All the best to VideoEgg for new Ad frame. Try the Best Meta Search engine available http://search.m...;sa=Search#1322
I wrote about doublebars as a downside of framebars yesterday.
Updated the post with above example.
http://tr.im/iP8L
So this is it, we’re going to have as many scroll bars on the left as ads/Digg/any URL shortener service bars (minus 1) ?
Sad…
Cool. Can someone bring back the blink tag to add some bling to those frames?
“More and more Web apps like the Diggbar are using frames to overlay a thin toolbar on top of other Websites, and the practice is causing some controversy because frames are generally frowned upon as messy Web design.”
Not only that but IFrames are commonly used in Clickjacking and Phishing attacks. IFrames have been used for mostly evil purposes on the Web.
The twig ad isn’t actually a frame, it’s just an element with position:fixed set.
Just to clarify, maybe the concept of the Bar is that it functions like a frame, but technically, it’s not. It’s just an element fixed to the top or bottom.
A majority the problems with frames don’t apply when it’s done this way.
I wish the technotopia guy who keeps spamming these board with questions like “Could this company be worth a billion dollar?” would fall down the stairs and shatter his dumb skull.
I received a double bar earlier today, actual content with in a diggbar page within a hootsuite page. I am not a fan.
That is a well executed idea. Ads are beneficial when relevant and that ad bar is very elegant.
Note, though, that that is no a frame. It is a fixed position div. That means you can’t use anti-frame scripts for it because it is in the content. You’d have to hide the div by its ID, but that might be hard since it seems to be a random ID, though not impossible.
I saw this a couple days ago. It’s a sticky ad meant for high engagement web sites.
In this case will the content be within an iFrame? Or is it just a regular ad on the page that happens to look like a bar?
And those who are saying diggbar is good and it still gives the content owner link juice and stuff, not entirely true. Read this: http://www.read...ld_for.php#more
For those who are saying that facebook did this first and no one complained, facebook is not primarily about links. Sites like digg that exists due to others content should not be doing this. Or best is to make it opt-in like reddit.
Ok… So *.videoegg.com/* goes into AdBlock Plus filter sets around the world. No problem.
already appears to be there, as I didn’t see it in FF3.08 and abplus
Love this unit…can’t wait to see it out in Canada.
Cool post! I’ll definitely check this out.
I hope EVERY company starts adding these things.
The sooner that happens, the sooner every site will start breaking out of them.
And the sooner we can get back to viewing content without a 3rd party site acting as a parasite on the content.
It’s this year’s gimmick … and it’ll be gone sooner rather than later.
I prefer frames than installing tool bars and add-ons!
The most popular resolution is 768*1024, with increasing 22″ LCD screen sales, Frame it is a price i’m willing to pay to get extra quality functionally.
I’m not sure commercial ad frame fits my definition….
In Qwiji Web-Shows we also use frames, to provide the users with the ability to navigate in a web-show, add comments etc. (For example: http://qwiji.co...how.aspx?sid=78)
The only problem is that there are still some web sites (i.e. myspace.com) with anti-frame policy.
There is nothing wrong with frames folks, you can abuse them, but they are just embedded windows. BTW that stacking thing is bullshit, you can make sure that doesn’t happen, word.
I disagree. Frames either provide an extra hit to someone that didn’t initially create the content,
or (if broken out of) increase the bandwidth bill of the person that did create the content by requiring a second server hit for the page.
Oh just checked Firebug, that twig thing isn’t even a frame. Good job article writer, vetted that one really well.
Not to be spammy, but how about a quadruple bar?
http://letsmove...a-web-toolbars/
I’d like to see someone get a picture of a site with a lot more of these; I just couldn’t think of any others off the top of my head (and in 5 minutes).
Hate All Ads. … and this is just another form of them.. Thankfully, AdBlock has already taken care of this one.
“…will replace the banner because you have it now more conveniently visible while you scroll.”
A ‘convenient’ ad? Fail.