'Net Features : video ad formats

Unicorn Expands Ad Opportunities for Video Publishers

Michael Garrity — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:40:00 GMT

Increasing your arsenal of video advertising opportunities just got a little bit easier thanks to the new Unicorn OnceUX solution from Unicorn Media.

If you’ve never heard of Unicorn Media, it’s a company that provides Internet video solutions. Through its flagship Unicorn Once solution, the company enabled cloud-based video delivery and dynamic ad insertion for any IP-connected devices using a single URL. Publishers using Unicorn Media’s solution are thus able to deliver personalized, “television-like” viewing experiences on a plethora of connected devices (e.g. the iPhone, iPad, Xbox, Android, Roku, etc.) with no SDK or plugin required. It also integrates with pretty much all third-party ad networks and in-house solutions.

OnceUX expands upon that by allowing publishers to deliver interactive ad capabilities and rich user interface (UI) from the client-side, while offering server-side ad insertion and continuous playback. Ultimately, this will open up a plethora of new monetization opportunities through expanded ad units and pay-per-click (PPC) models.

The new client-side capabilities that come with Unicorn OnceUX include incorporating interactive ads, inserting ad overlays into video streams and the ability to hide player controls to prevent fast-forwarding, among many others. And as it’s build for applications and HTML5 content structures, OnceUX eliminates the need for publishers to use third-party SDKs to manage their click-through campaigns, as well as delivering a vastly improved user experience thanks to the removal of third-party interface delays.

Unicorn OnceUX also provides publishers with real-time analytics on video and ad performance, in addition to delivering business intelligence that allows for agile ad operations and support for mid-roll ad insertion in long-form content. This means that ad operations can now deliver customized ads to users based on the current inventory on their connected devices.

A "Social" Pre-Roll from YuMe

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:00:00 GMT

Video advertising provider YuMe released a new product feature which it hopes will work to increase the brand engagement factor of video ads.

The new YuMe pre-roll ad (see below) enables brands to select up to three optional links as overlay buttons on their video ads, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, other websites, offers, and dealer/retail information. This format replaces the current pre-roll format from YuMe and commands the same CPM as a traditional video-only pre-roll.

“Consumers are actively consuming online video and brand advertisers are getting more adventurous and creative about their cross-screen video ad campaigns and offering consumers more ways to interact with their brands,” said YuMe CEO Jayant Kadambi. “These new interactive video ad formats will help brands connect the dots and engage with consumers more fully wherever they are viewing content — whether it be on their phone, PC or TV.”

Screenshot of YuMe pre-roll ad - note the social media icons in the lower left.

New Interactive Video Ad Formats for Mobile

Linc Wonham — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:30:00 GMT

Limelight Networks has introduced a service that enables interactive video ad units within applications running on iOS and Android platforms.

Called Limelight REACH Interactive, the service helps publishers, agencies and advertisers create tappable pre-roll and post-roll in-stream video ads, which open coordinated microsites. Playback of the video containing the ads is paused while consumers interact with the landing page.

These video ads are unskippable on the device, as video playback controls are disabled while the ads are playing.

Limelight REACH Interactive delivers in-depth analytics for both publishers and advertisers on video playback and user interaction. Publishers can measure drop-off rates for users who close the mobile app while watching the video as well as buffering events that negatively impact user experience, while advertisers gain insight on ad views and user engagement.

REACH Interactive captures the following behavior data, including:

When a user plays or stops video content

When the video ad within content started and ended

When a user tapped on video ad

When the user returned to video content from ad landing page

The amount of the video content that was played in 25-, 50-, 75- and 100-percent intervals

When a buffering event occurred

Visit Limelight Networks to view a demo of REACH Interactive.