Tailgate: Ad banners as interactive flash apps; purchase w/o clickthrough

I might see this working if they push time sensitive deals that forces the ad viewer to purchase through the banner or lose out on a price break.

It would also have to be on products relatively ordinary and inexpensive. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense to purchase on the spot.

I'm skeptical that the casual shopper would buy directly from a remote banner without clicking through and checking if the online store is legit,

I agree with you, I think the only way that they might be able to get someone to buy through a banner would be if there was some direct tie to the to the page. The page content would have to say something like "you can buy the item we reviewed through this banner, the vendor is reliable".

I think it's still a bit of a stretch...

I read through the techcrunch comments and there were some valid points made... one that stuck out to me was one where a guy said he'd sign up for something but wouldnt buy anything.

I share that same feeling... I'd sign up for something but I wouldn't buy anything through it.