Advertisers are gearing up to run campaigns on the iPad, reports “ClickZ” (http://www.clickz.com/3639886), a site that offers news and advice for the digital publisher.

Mobile ad platform AdMarvel has teamed with Gannett-owned rich media ad firm PointRoll to enable expandable and highly-interactive ads on the iPad. Gannett’s “USA Today,” an AdMarvel publisher, is among the sites that will launch on the iPad with ads served up by the partners, according to Max Mead, VP of business development at PointRoll.

When the iPad officially becomes available, PointRoll will launch ads for “an automaker, a large retailer, a large CPG conglomerate, and a pretty large hotel chain,” he told “ClickZ,” but declined to name the advertisers. “You could very easily run pretty much the same ad as you do on the iPhone on the iPad, but that would not really be fully leveraging the potential … You have an opportunity on the iPad to do a lot more.”

AdMarvel CEO Mahi de Silva told “ClickZ” that he expects “that there will be somewhere in the hundreds of campaigns” from advertisers running through the company’s platform. Many will be custom campaigns sold by premium publishers’ sales forces, said de Silva.

The iPad — now available for pre-order — is due to hit the stores April 3. At least the Wi-Fi only versions will; the Wi-Fi + 3G model will hit US store sleeves in late April. In addition, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.

The Wi-Fi iPad sells for a suggested retail price of US$499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB models. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.