German Internet filtering company Webwasher.com has released a new version of its software for the Linux and Windows operating systems that can filter out all of the new, larger Web site ads that were launched last month.

March 13, 2001
Web posted at: 9:53 a.m. EST (1453 GMT)

By Paul Meller

(IDG) -- German Internet filtering company Webwasher.com has released a new version of its software for the Linux and Windows operating systems that can filter out all of the new, larger Web site ads that were launched last month.

The new ad-size standards include "skyscrapers" with as many as 120 X 600 pixels and "rectangles" with as many as 336 x 280 pixels -- three times the average ad size currently in use.

The Internet Advertising Bureau, which includes members like DoubleClick, America Online, and CNET Networks, says it's introducing the new sizes because they're necessary to enhance the creativity, emotional appeal, and interactivity of Internet ads.

But Webwasher CEO Horst Joepen said the new ads are "network hogs." Three times the screen size translates into roughly three times the file size, he pointed out. "For home users, that may mean waiting three times as long for an ad to download."

"For large enterprise networks, the impact on network bandwidth and performance could be hundreds to thousands of times worse, depending on how many employees are online," Joepen said.

Webwasher.com is working on a Macintosh version of its new software package. The company says it hopes to launch it in two months or three months.