School computers run ads on screensavers in canada

TORONTO -- Advertising on school computers is now a fact in Canada. ScreenAd Digital Billboards Inc. has been given approval to begin running screensaver advertising on school computers in the Peel Board of Education region, a large suburban area just west of Toronto.

And now the school board in Brampton, Ontario, just north of Toronto has put the word out it is looking for advertisers to sign up for its advertising on computers program.

ScreenAd's program works by flashing a mix of trivia, information and motivational messages every 15 minutes, plus a company logo, on the computer's screensaver program.

The company says it hopes to attract attention from anyone in the near vicinity of an unused computer, whether a student just sitting down to work, or students passing by or working on other computers in the area.

While Peel is the first school board to give approval for all its school computers, ScreenAd also has contracts with six community colleges and several other schools throughout Ontario. The company estimates it will have access to 1.5 million students by this September.

Copyright April 1997, Crain Communications Inc.