HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 3
Advertising with Web Standards
This chapter will discuss the new and useful features of HTML5 and open web standards that you can leverage in
your next advertising campaign. The thing to remember going forward is that HTML5 is not about advancements in
HTML markup alone; it also pioneers new JavaScript APIs and CSS features, among other technologies. Some HTML5,
CSS3, and JavaScript techniques will be examined, and you'll see how they can be used together to enhance creative
development in the modern browser market.
As you know, advertising on the Web has gone through many stages: static imagery, animated GIFs, basic HTML
ads, rich features with Flash. Now HTML5 and the modern web stack are building a new stage in the progression. As
this topic proceeds, I'll cover some of the common pitfalls that designers and developers run into as the emerging web
standard comes to fruition, and you'll see how you can use this new spec right now while providing graceful failbacks
for users with older browsers.
I've discussed how rich media advertising came about in the HTML5 advertising world; so let's assume from
this point forward that all advertising on the Web will be considered “rich” and highly interactive. This chapter is
pointed at getting you completely up to speed with certain nuances when dealing with advertising using emerging
web technologies. I'll cover some of the new features in HTML5, leveraging APIs, and optimizing your code to run
efficiently across publishers.
First things first, however. Make sure you're working with the latest version of Safari, Internet Explorer, Chrome,
Opera, or Firefox. Since I'll be taking a first look at some code in this chapter, it's important that you have a modern
browser to follow along. Consider this chapter a primer, as it will give a full view into the landscape that is HTML5 and
its affect on web advertising as a whole. Every chapter going forward will focus on diving deeper into the technology
that is discussed here, but this is where you get your feet wet. So let's dig in!
HTML5 Advertising
HTML5 has brought—at the time of writing, is
still
bringing—many enhancements to the creation of web content.
This topic's focus is on how HTML5 and its various technologies are impacting the online advertising market,
but I strongly suggest you learn more about HTML5 markup and how it's impacting the Web as a whole. Tags like
<article>
,
<aside>
,
<details>
,
<header>
,
<footer>
, and
<section>
—as well as
<canvas>
,
<video>
,
<audio>
, and
some others we'll cover in detail later—are new to the HTML5 specification. With these new tags, developers and
designers can create semantic and logical markup natively in the browser. Be sure to check out the latest take on
work/multipage
) with regard to how it impacts the Web as a whole. That said, emerging and competitive browser
vendors are now incorporating HTML5 features, allowing developers to define the structure of a document with these
soon-to-be standard HTML semantics.
