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Like its for-profit brethren, the Ad Council is embracing online formats to get its messages out to the public, reports The New York Times.

The Ad Council is a non-profit industry group that puts the power of advertising's biggest players to work for public service announcements and other endeavors.

Now the group is embracing online tactics like banner ads, social networking sites and YouTube channels to get its messages across. Those tactics extend the reach of the messages the council creates in the same way online extends traditional marketing campaigns from old media to new.

The group is asking interactive agencies to take a leadership role in creating campaigns for the causes it promotes, a shift from the way online tactics have been an add-on to print or TV campaigns in the past.

This resulted in a wave of microsites, Facebook applications and more, geared toward penetration of younger audiences.