'Net Features : video advertising

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.

Video Ad Spending Soars

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:42:00 GMT

Web marketers are likely putting the finsihing touches on their plans for 2013 right now; here's to hoping they haven't left video advertising out of their promotional mix.

A new report from Adap.tv indicates that online video ad spend rose 27 percent in 2012 and is expected to grow another 20 percent in 2013. If spending increases in one channel, it has to go down in another of course and broadcast TV, Cable, Print and Direct response channels all suffered.

Below is a video of Adap.tv President Toby Garbiner discussing the report, but here are two additional highlights from the research study that caught our attention:

- Real-time bidding via DSP's, and interest in private exchanges tripled in Q3
- Fill-rates for publishers are up an average of 19 percent over last year.
- Available inventory is up 67 percent from 2011
- CPMs are up an average of 12 percent from 2011

Watch live streaming video from digiday at livestream.com

Video Ads Come to LinkedIn

Allison Howen — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:45:00 GMT

There is a whole new way for advertisers to reach their prospects through LinkedIn.

This is because the professional social network has announced that the company’s self-serve platform, LinkedIn Ads, now allows advertisers to use videos to promote their brands. The platform also works with YouTube, which means that brands can leverage videos from their existing YouTube presence to promote their brand on LinkedIn.

According to a LinkedIn blog post, the video ads will appear in 300x250 units across the social network and will compete for impressions in the same way that the site's traditional text and image ad formats do. Furthermore, when a LinkedIn user is engaged with a video ad, the video will take over the entire ad unit and play for 30 seconds. After the video’s completion, users have the ability to click through to the advertiser’s landing page or website.

Video Advertising Gets Social

Michael Garrity — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:45:00 GMT

Online video is hot. Social media has mostly taken over the world. So, why haven't these two highly popular advertising avenues been married yet? (My guess is fear of commitment.)

Slowly, but surely, it's starting to happen. Recently, video advertising solution provider Innovid announced major enhancements to inRoll Studio that will allow users to to create interactive video ads that offer social media and microsite functionality. These ad units will be able to quickly launch on all sites and devices almost effortlessly.

The inRoll platform allows advertisers to add interactive elements to pre-roll video ads to improve interactivity (obviously), increase awareness, foster brand engagement and introduce better tracking and targeting capabilities into the videos. This new update will help make inRoll enhancements more social, which is never a bad thing on today's Web.

Innovid is even helping to tailor specific features to some of the Web's most popular social networks to help customers get the most out of their ads. For instance, they can include actions to drive users to their Facebook profile pages by encouraging them to "like" the pages with interactive elements over the pre-roll.

Other social network-specific options include the ability to display real-time Twitter feeds over their pre-roll, let users tweet and retweet the content from the pre-roll, add streaming YouTube videos, include "like," "subscribe" and "share" functionalities for YouTube and leverage a variety of other social media channels (Digg, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest) with a "Share This" feature to let users share marketer information.

According to an Innovid press release, advertisers using inRoll Studio are seeing an average 500 percent CTR increase over their banner ads.

The Video Race: Who’s Winning?

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:36:00 GMT

Comscore today released data from its Video Metrix service showing that U.S. Internet users watched an average of 13.6 hours of online video content in February 2011, engaging in more than 5.0 billion viewing sessions.

As you might imagine, when it comes to the top online video properties by video content views, the usual suspects appear. Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in February with 141.1 million unique viewers. Microsoft Sites captured the #2 ranking (up from #7) with 48.8 million viewers, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 46.7 million viewers. Facebook.com came in fourth with nearly 46.7 million viewers, while VEVO ranked fifth with 45.9 million viewers. Google Sites had the highest number of viewing sessions with 1.8 billion, and average time spent per viewer at 262 minutes, or 4.4 hours.

For those struggling with video content, video advertising is coming on strong. In fact, Video ads accounted for 12.4 percent of all videos viewed and 1.2 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

According to Comscore, Americans viewed 3.8 billion video ads in February. Hulu generated the highest number of video ad impressions at more than 1.1 billion. Tremor Media Video Network ranked second overall (and highest among video ad networks) with 548.3 million ad views, followed by ADAP.TV (396 million) and SpotXchange Video Ad Network (343 million). Time spent watching videos ads totaled 1.7 billion minutes during the month, with Hulu delivering the highest duration of video ads at 454 million minutes. Video ads reached 42 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 30 times during the month. Hulu also delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 48 over the course of the month.

Developing Web Video for Profit

Mike Phillips — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:30:00 GMT

In a recent online study*, Elastic Path found that people are watching large amounts of video online and on an increasing variety of devices – no surprise there. But the study also finds that viewers are also starting to warm up to the idea of paying for online video. That’s very good news. Creating and marketing online video can be a costly and time-consuming endeavor. It’s time to make those videos earn.

YouTube is, as expected, far and away the leader in the online video space with 81 percent of respondents claiming to have used YouTube in the last 12 months. However, 34 percent used Netflix and 19 percent used iTunes/Apple TV – both paid services. Even more encouraging, 43 percent of total viewers in the survey actually paid to watch online video (excluding adult content).

The reasons given for paying for online video content include:

To gain access to videos that I want to watch when I want to watch them (56%)
It was cheaper than alternatives (cable/satellite TV, DVD, etc.) (32%)
I wanted to avoid watching advertisements (31%)
To gain access to exclusive content that is not available on other media like TV or DVD (23%)
The content/service was recommended by a friend, colleague, etc. (16%)

While the first two reasons likely apply to categories such as TV shows or movies, the last few reasons are particularly intriguing. Essentially, it shows that paid online video content is not the exclusive domain of the Hollywood producer community.

Also encouraging is that 35 percent of respondents have already paid or would consider paying for an online short film, while 34 percent said the same about instructional or how-to videos. The clear leader for paid content is, of course, full-length movies (75%) followed by TV show/show segments (39%). But if you consider the broad scope of short films and instructional videos, plenty of opportunity exists for Web professionals to actually charge for some online video content. Think of the example of Kindle Singles; Amazon’s latest paid content offering featuring 5,000-30,000 word e-books priced anywhere from $0.99 to $3.99. Surely, many of those are of the instructional and short story variety. Might the same model work with video?

Leading the way in online video that respondents claim they will never pay for include non-professional or user-generated videos (84%) – a healthy reminder that every video a business produces should be of the absolute highest quality possible. Faring no better, 84 percent said they would never pay for online video of news or current events.

For those who have the resources, audience and creativity to create paid video content, things are looking good. Of course, this does not apply to most Web business owners. But consider this: 71 percent of the survey respondents say they would be willing to watch embedded advertisements if it meant they could watch premium content for free. The key phrase of course is “premium content.” There is no reason a business cannot package video as premium content then freely embed advertising (at a premium, of course) in the video. On the other end, 56 percent of those surveyed said they would likely pay extra to watch video without ads – so, if your content is popular, your “premium content” channel is the one without advertising.

Below are a few more ways to use video to generate revenue:

Create landing pages for your videos. You don’t need to sell anything directly in the video, but create specific landing pages relevant to the videos’ content. This way, you keep the viewer in the same frame of mind from the video to the website, and closer to the goal set forth – whether that’s a sale, a sign-up or a download.

Consider a paid advertisement linked to your video. Sure, this will cost money in the short term. But if you have some really compelling content (perhaps an exclusive how-to) or just need to make a splash announcing your company and services, this is a good option. The market is crowded – getting your video widely seen is imperative to the end goal for which the video was produced.

Include a coupon or special promotion code in the video. Coupons and daily deals are all the rage right now. Take advantage of this. Have you made a video explaining your product’s new features? Get a coupon code in the video so the viewer can act on his impulse. Also, this gives viewers a good reason to subscribe to your video feed.

*The study polled 1,005 U.S. adults over the age of 18 who had downloaded or watched online video at least once in the previous 12 months. More than half (53%) had watched or downloaded online video at least once per week. The most active online video viewers are 18 to 34 year olds, with 63 percent saying they watch weekly or more.

Time to Put Joost on Your Radar

Mike Phillips — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:12:00 GMT

Joost has seen its share of incarnations (and owners) over the past few years and this time it is plunging into the video ad world - something Web professionals need to know about.

Adconion Media Group, who purchased Joost in 2009, has announced they will spin off Joost Video Network as its own standalone business; shifting from a video distribution network to a full-scale video ad business. Joost Video Network will aggregate content, then pair advertisers with that content so ads are shown to the most relevant audience.

According to Tyler Moebius, CEO of Adconion Media Group:

"Video has always been a top priority for us, and after carefully watching the market and listening to our clients’ needs, we knew that now was the time to be aggressive and spinoff a successful product to become an even more successful standalone business. We are well positioned to capture more of the video market because unlike other pure-play video networks, we can provide both massive reach and scale across a broader suite of products such as: pre-roll, in-banner video, expandable ads, road blocks and custom skins and integrations on Joost.com."

In 2010, Joost boasted revenue in the $30 million range and that number is expected to reach triple digits in 2011. That would make Joost the largest video ad network in the world. The timing couldn't be better for Joost and advertisers. In comScore's latest Video Metrix, they found that in December 2010, 172 million U.S. viewers averaged 14.6 hours of online video viewing per user and that 6 billion ads were viewed against 5.2 billion video viewing sessions.

Joost will launch a website dedicated to advertisers and agencies in March, 2011.

Video Ads Gaining Acceptance and Revenue

Mike Phillips — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:02:00 GMT

Hulu.com recently announced that the website will earn $240 million in 2010, up drastically from $108 million in 2009. And a large part of that can be attributed to a sharp increase in video ad spending. That market is expected to grow an astounding 48 percent between 2009 and 2010, according to eMarketer. Of course, Hulu has several partnerships in place with major broadcasters and video producers. But the news is just as good for the smaller advertisers, video producers and website owners.

Freewheel, a video advertising provider who works with Turner, Discover, YouTube, CBS and more, claims that completion rates for pre-roll advertising - watching the complete ad - is up about 9 percent from Q1 to Q3, 2010.

"People are getting accustomed to watching shows in a digital environment, and at the same time they are seeing more and more ads that resemble television," said Doug Knopper, CEO, Freewheel.

Mid-roll ads are completed the most, followed by pre-roll, according to Freewheel's analysis of more than 3 billion ads served in Q3. Post-roll ads are the least watched. The increase in watched ads might be due to several factors including user acceptance, an increase in total video watched online, and advertisers' gaining expertise in the medium - including shortening ad length to ensure full views.

Expert SEO Advice, TV's Changing Ad Landscape

Mike Phillips — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:12:00 GMT

This week we hear from Brent Payne, SEO Director for Tribune Company. He tells us the ins-and-outs of getting included in Google News and offers up other excellent SEO tips for your website. Also, we look at the changing landscape of television advertising and what it means to Web advertisers and publishers.

Listen now, and subcribe to Website Magazine Radio in iTunes!

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If you would like to have your questions answered on Website Magazine Radio, please send email to mike@websitemagazine.com with "WM Radio" in the subject field.

Online Video Advertising is Soaring

Mike Phillips — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:00:00 GMT

According to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, online advertising revenue increased 14 percent in the second quarter, reaching a record $6.2 billion. For the year, Internet advertising revenue is up 11 percent, at $12.1 billion.

What's fueling this growth? Online video - the hottest thing on the Web next to social networking. Video advertising has grown 31 percent in the first half of the year. Search ads still lead the way with a total of $5.7 billion in spend in the first half of the year.

This should leave little doubt as to the power of online video and its unlimited future.

Read more about Internet video advertising's golden age.

Read about video advertising affiliate programs.

Read about agencies' satisfaction with video advertising.

Read about YouTube keyword research.

Online Video Advertising Entering a Golden Age

Mike Phillips — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:00:00 GMT

It appears that online video advertising is no longer in the realm of "experimental media buys" but has fully entered the mainstream. And major profits are to be had.

According to media research firm Borrell Associates, streaming video advertising is set to grow more than 60 percent -- reaching $5.6 billion next year. And this growth is not limited to big agencies or businesses with massive budgets. According to Borrell, two of every five video ad dollars spent will come from local advertisers.

A separate report earlier this year from eMarketer predicted $1.5 billion in online video ad spend for 2010, and $5 billion by 2014 -- behind Borrell's predictions but still showing tremendous growth. While the numbers might not match up, one thing is clear -- online video advertising is hitting its stride.

Another strong indication? Hulu's CEO, Jason Kilar, told Bloomberg that ad revenue had already topped $100 million this year for the streaming video site. That's ahead of a rumored IPO for Hulu, which is hearing estimates of $2 billion or more. The last video site to garner over $1 billion was YouTube when it was purchased by Google in 2006. And we all know how that has turned out.

This is good news for every Web business. As online video consumption has risen, so has the prominence of streaming advertisements. As such, consumers have become quite accustomed to (and accepting of) these ads and more than willing to sit through 15 or 30 seconds to get the content they want. What's more, the explosion of smartphones, launch of the iPad and the pending influx of more tablet devices set to hit the market in mere months gives users even more opportunity to watch online video away from the confinements of a desktop computer. In fact, in a recent survey of 31,000 consumers conducted by Texterity and audited by BPA, of those who own iPads, a full 72 percent said they watch video on the iPad.

The takeaway here is that video is not a luxury for online businesses -- it has quickly become an integral part of the publishing and advertising landscape. Video is easy to create and distribute, and there is real opportunity to monetize on these videos. Consumers are watching video at a record pace, too -- a real opportunity to advertise your business to an active, engaged and captive audience.

Want to get involved in online video advertising? Check out BrightRoll, SpotXchange, VideoEgg and, of course, advertising on YouTube.

Online Video the Best Form of Advertising, Say Agencies

Linc Wonham — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:50:00 GMT

Video is the fastest-growing online advertising format with estimates of about a 40-percent growth rate through 2010. And the marketers that have taken part in its growth are resoundingly satisfied, according to a recent study from video ad network BrightRoll.

More than 50 percent of the agency executives who participated in the study indicated that online video was the most effective form of advertising, and 83 percent said they were getting more value for their video advertising spend in early 2010 than the previous year. A whopping 94 percent revealed plans for spending more on online video ad campaigns this year than in 2009.

Another sign of video advertising’s maturation in 2010 is the more than 60 percent of respondents that said behavioral targeting increased the performance of their campaigns. The targeting capabilities of video ads were cited as the biggest concern among agency execs in 2009. The biggest concern revealed in this year’s study was maintaining credibility with video ads, with executives saying that videos that start automatically were the biggest detractor.

Video Out of Control (In a Good Way) in the U.K.

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:19:00 GMT

ComScore's Video Metric Service released data indicating that the total number of videos viewed online in the U.K. in April 2009 grew 47 percent versus year ago to 4.7 billion videos.

The report also found that 21.8 million U.K. Internet users viewed a total of 971 million online display ads on multimedia sites during the month, based on data from comScore Ad Metrix, a recently introduced service in the U.K. providing competitive intelligence on online display advertising.

So what are the top U.K. online video properties based on videos viewed? YouTube of course dominated, and experienced a 58% growth in views. Other pure play properties include Megavideo.com, dailymotion.com and Facebook.com.

"With nearly five billion videos viewed in the U.K. in April, online video is a powerful and growing vehicle for online advertising placement,” said Mike Read, SVP and managing director, comScore Europe. “The online video market currently relies heavily on display ads for monetization, and in the coming months and years we can expect that video ads will play an even more prominent role. Despite the market’s overwhelming size and audience at this phase of the growth curve, it is also clear that we’re still in the early stages of advertising optimization and effectiveness in this increasingly important entertainment channel.”

Jivox Adds Geo-targeting, Ad Creator, and Subscription Plans

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:12:00 GMT

Local online video advertising service Jivox released several new features including map-based geo-targeting, QuickStart video ad creation templates, and new subscription plans for advertisers.

The automated map-based geo-targeting displays targeted cities on an interactive map and allows users to expand the targeted geography around a city by a 5, 20, 15, or 30-mile radius and save it for a future campaign.

Jivox' QuickStart Ad Creator (a template-based offering) enables advertisers to create video ads by completing a series of prompts for text and logos. Any ad created in the Jivox service can be saved as a QuickStart ad to be customized by other users, and unlike other template-based approaches which do not allow further changes to the ad, Jivox QuickStart ads can be further edited by using Jivox advanced video ad creation tools.

Finally, Jovox has made available subscription plans. Plans are designed around typical geographies, including local, metro, regional and national, and can be combined with subscription periods, including one, three, six and twelve months allowing advertisers to spend as little as $225 per month or set custom spending levels based on their marketing needs.

MySpace & Visible Measures

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:13:00 GMT

One of the challenges with video -- in addition to creating and distributing it -- is measuring it effectively. Fortunately, there are companies out there that help advertisers and publishers know a little bit more about the effectiveness of that content.

Video measurement provider Visible Measures has entered into an agreement to become the online video measurement platform for social portal MySpace. The company provides brand advertisers and agencies with a view across all campaign components including syndicated content, social and paid video placements.

MySpace will be able to leverage Visible Measures to collected audience behavior data on the millions of video streams that are served every month and provide advertising clients and content providers visibility into campaign performance and content effectiveness.

“MySpace is a global leader and a premier video-sharing destination that is relied upon by many leading brand advertisers,” said Brian Shin, founder and CEO of Visible Measures. “As we look to help MySpace capitalize on their unique value proposition, we are excited to expand our relationship with them and enable their content providers and advertisers to be even more successful on MySpace.”