The online ad industry is on the prowl for new ad formats that go beyond what display and search have delivered - or not, depending on whose point of view is being voiced. Google, a market-maker for ad formats, appears to be embracing interactive video ads, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported on Allen & Co.'s annual gathering of media moguls.

Such ads, according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt could appear anywhere on a web page - not just inside a video - similar to a mini-Web pages. Web users could watch a video, leave a comment and see real-time updates within the ads - which, of course, are customized to their interest, the Journal reported.

Groupon's founder, Andrew Mason, was also at the event, pushing his model - now endlessly duplicated by other firms - as another format that will dominate the internet in coming years.

Meanwhile, publishers are still exploring the 'new' ad formats that have just been made available to them. Hearst, for example, just released the first of several magazine-specific apps for the iPad: available through Apple’s app store is an app for Popular Mechanics magazine. Costing $1.99, the app is an "augmented experience, complete with embedded video, 3-D building plans, interactive animations and more," according to Hearst. (via MediaBuyerPlanner).

By the end of the year, the monthly magazine will be available on the iPad platform at approximately the same time the print issue reaches newsstands each month. Pricing for the monthly iPad edition has not yet been determined. Hearst says the Popular Mechanics app will “provide a road map for other Hearst Magazines titles that will launch iPad apps in the next several months.”