San Francisco-based ad network VideoEgg last week introduced the ‘twig,’ a new ad unit designed to optimize advertising on long web pages, like blogs and social sites where comments and content increase page length. Blogs are a vital component of the new media environment, but are undervalued by advertisers because their format usually has users scrolling past ads, according to VideoEgg, which has a Canadian branch in Montreal.

Twig ads are always visible on the top or bottom of the frame, and they have an opt-in full-page expansion, where an advertiser can present video or pictures that the consumer can interact with. L’Oréal Paris is the first advertiser to use the new format for its Double Extend Beauty Tube mascara, arranged by Marketel-McCann Erickson in Montreal. It will be presented across some of VideoEgg’s network of 150 blogs and sites, which spans categories from fashion and beauty to automotive, including Splendicity, Macheesmo and The Truth about Cars.

‘We’re selling the Canadian audience on whatever environment they might be in,’ says Troy Young, VideoEgg’s CMO, explaining that through targeting, Canadian ads can be shown to Canadian audiences on its international properties. Young says through their network they reach about 14 million Canadians. With twig and all of VideoEgg’s properties, advertisers pay on an engagement rate, which is measured by a user’s click on and time spent with an ad, as opposed to an impression basis, Young tells MiC.