Animated GIF
GIF89a


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Internet Marketing Reference

animated GIF

Definition

A graphic in the GIF89a file format that creates the effect of animation by rotating through a series of static images.

Information

Animated banners are made up of a series of frames. An individual display time is set for each frame, measured in fractions of a second.

A loop is a complete cycle through all of the images in an animated sequence. An animated GIF can be set to loop once, infinitely, or somewhere in between. Some publishers have limits restricting the number of times an advertiser's banner is allowed to loop.

GIF89a is the most common format for animated banners and buttons. Animated GIFs are relatively easy to work with and widely supported by Web browsers, although they lack some of the functionality offered by rich media.

The opposite of an animated banner is a static banner.