Posts for 'Advertising'

It's no secret that smartphones and tablets are now nearly ubiquitous, and that more and more video is being consumed on them. For example, Ooyala recently said that 34% of all video plays were on mobile devices in Q4 '14, which was up from 6% just 2 years prior. Meanwhile, YouTube's CEO said last Fall that 50% of its views are on mobile and its head of content said about its product development focus, "It's all mobile, mobile, mobile."

All that mobile video usage is now starting to heavily impact how video is created and monetized. While mobile video has always been shorter-form than desktop, a key creative influence over the past year has been Facebook's insertion of audio-off autoplay video in users' news feeds. Last week Fortune provided a lot of context for what's behind Facebook's 4 billion views per month. Then, in an insightful post, Newsbound's Josh Kalven pointed out how audio-off is leading content creators to adopt readable video formats.

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A new survey from Unruly reveals that 70% of U.S. advertisers have shifted a portion of their TV ad budgets to programmatic online video ads in the past 12 months (see graph below). In addition, 75% of U.S. advertisers said that programmatic will account for a share of their overall online video ad budget.

The data is based on a survey of 1,000 senior advertiser and agency executives, 500 each in the U.S. and U.K. from March, 2015. It is one of the strongest endorsements yet for the adoption of programmatic video advertising.

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Netflix has been back under the microscope these past few days as reports (here and here) surfaced that some users were seeing pre-roll and post-roll ads promoting original programs. That immediately led to speculation that Netflix was preparing a full-on ad play that would significantly alter the viewer experience.

This in turn prompted Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings to post on Facebook, "No advertising coming onto Netflix. Period. Just adding relevant cool trailers for other Netflix content you are likely to love."

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Over 50 industry executives will be speaking on 13 different sessions at the 5th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 16th in NYC, promising a premier day of learning for anyone with a stake in the booming business of online video advertising.

Headlining the event are our 2 keynote guests David Cohen, Chief Investment Officer, Universal McCann and Neeraj Khemlani, co-president, Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, who will share their insights on the future of advertising and content.

Other speakers recently added include David Morris (Chief Revenue Officer, CBS Interactive), Hermann Hassenstein (Global Head of Marketing Planning, Puma), Rachel Pasqua (Head of Mobility, MEC North America), Stephano Kim (SVP, Ad Operations and Chief Data Strategist, Turner), Sean Muller (CEO and founder, iSpot.tv) and Jonah Goodhart (CEO, Moat), among others. I'm also delighted that The Wall Street Journal's Mike Shields and AdAge's Michael Sebastian, 2 of the savviest industry observers around, will each be moderating a session.

The Video Ad Summit is generously supported by 21 sponsors, including Title Partner Videology; Premier Partners DashBid, FreeWheel and Pixability, Headline Partners Altitude Digital, Beachfront Media, Genesis Media, LiveRail, Nielsen, Ooyala, Operative, Teads.tv and TubeMogul, plus Branding Partners Adobe, Akamai, Alphonso, Brightcove, JW, Roku, Tremor Video and VertaMedia.

Learn more and register now!

Today is the last day to save $100 on tickets to the 5th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 16th in NYC. As a bonus, all early bird registrants will also be entered to win a 55-inch TCL Roku TV.

This year's program is the best one yet, packed with C-level executive speakers from agencies, content providers and technology companies. Headlining the day are our 2 keynote guests David Cohen, Chief Investment Officer, Universal McCann and Neeraj Khemlani, co-president, Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, who will share their insights on the future of advertising and content.

The program also features over 35 executives from Bonnier, CBS Interactive, Digitas, Disney/ABC, Conde Nast, Google, Heineken USA, Initiative, MEC, Nielsen, Puma, Reuters TV, Starcom, Turner Broadcasting, Viacom, Zenith Optimedia and others, on a dozen sessions throughout the day.

Hundreds of industry colleagues will be attending, promising an action-packed day of learning and networking.

Huge thanks to our 20 sponsors, all of whom will have executives attending: Title Partner Videology; Premier Partners DashBid, FreeWheel and Pixability, Headline Partners Altitude Digital, Beachfront Media, Genesis Media, LiveRail, Nielsen, Ooyala, Operative, Teads.tv and TubeMogul, plus Branding Partners Adobe, Akamai, Alphonso, Brightcove, JW, Roku and Tremor Video.

Register now and save!

Wibbitz, an Israeli text-to-video startup, has raised an $8 million Series B round led by NantMobile, with participation by existing investors. The funds will be used to expand into the U.S. via a new New York City office, headed by CEO and co-founder Zohar Dayan, who brought me up to speed on the company yesterday.

Wibbitz uses natural language processing to quickly turn publishers' text articles into short videos. The process begins with Wibbitz's technology digesting the article via algorithms meant to emulate a human reader's behavior, identifying key people, main points and the theme, resulting in a summary of about 20% of the full article.

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Early bird discounted registration ends this Friday for the 5th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 16th in NYC. All early bird registrants save $100 and are entered to win a 55-inch TCL Roku TV.

Our top-notch program includes keynote guests David Cohen, Chief Investment Officer, Universal McCann and Neeraj Khemlani, co-president, Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, plus 35 executives from Bonnier, CBS Interactive, Digitas, Disney/ABC, Conde Nast, Google, Heineken USA, Initiative, MEC, Nielsen, Puma, Reuters TV, Starcom, Turner Broadcasting, Viacom, Zenith Optimedia and many more.

The Ad Summit is generously supported by 19  industry leaders including Title Partner Videology; Premier Partners DashBid, FreeWheel and Pixability, Headline Partners Altitude Digital, Beachfront Media, Genesis Media, LiveRail, Nielsen, Ooyala, Operative, Teads.tv and TubeMogul, plus Branding Partners Adobe, Akamai, Alphonso, Brightcove, Roku and Tremor Video.

Don't delay - register now and save!

FreeWheel has released its Q1 '15 Video Monetization Report, which reinforces many of the key trends seen in recent quarters. Of note, TV Everywhere viewing increased 328% vs. Q1 '14, now accounting for 57% of long-form content viewed. Once again, live content grew the fastest, up 140% year-over-year. Sports accounted for 82% of live ad views, basically flat from Q4 '14.

Overall, FreeWheel found that video views grew 40% in Q1 '15 vs. Q1 '14, with ad views up 43%, the fastest growth since 2012.

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iSpot.tv, which monitors ads in over 100 national TV networks and then correlates real-time digital actions such search, social and video viewing, has raised a $21.9 million series B round, led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor, Madrona Venture Group. The new funds will be used for product development and increased staff.

In a world where ads are everywhere, with TV viewing becoming more fragmented, and viewers distracted by mobile devices, iSpot.tv's value to advertisers is that it helps them understand the TOTAL impact of their TV ads, including "earned" subsequent digital actions.

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I'm thrilled to announce that Universal McCann Chief Investment Officer David Cohen will be the morning keynote guest at the 5th annual VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit on Tuesday, June 16th in NYC. One of the industry's foremost innovators, David will participate in a interview with me titled "The Future of Video Advertising," in which he'll share insights on how unprecedented forces are impacting video advertising and who the ultimate winners will be in the fast-evolving landscape.

In addition, our afternoon keynote guest is Neeraj Khemlani, Co-President of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication and President, Hearst Digital Studios. Neeraj will participate in a conversation with me, titled "The Future of Video Content Providers," in which he'll explain how established media companies are transforming themselves for the online video era and new entrants are gaining audience momentum. Neeraj will also provide insight into Hearst's key video initiatives including investments in Vice, AwesomenessTV, BuzzFeed, Roku and others.

David and Neeraj are part of an all-star group of over 35 industry executives from Bonnier, CBS Interactive, Digitas, Disney/ABC, Conde Nast, Google, Heineken USA, Initiative, Nielsen, Puma, Reuters TV, Starcom, Turner Broadcasting, Viacom, Zenith Optimedia and many more who will be participating in this premier day of learning and networking!

Early bird, discounted registration expires THIS Friday, May 22nd, so don't delay. Register now to save and to win a 55-inch TCL Roku TV!

Learn more and register now!

I'm pleased to present the 273rd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Since Verizon announced it was acquiring AOL for $4.4 billion earlier this week, there has been a ton of media coverage, with lots of speculation about what the deal means for Verizon going forward. This is at least partly due to the companies doing a relatively poor job of articulating the deal's strategy.

In this week's podcast, Colin and I weigh in as well, focusing mainly on how AOL's video, programmatic and video syndication assets could mesh well with Verizon Digital Media Services, which already provides back-end delivery and monetization to video content providers (see here and here). Combining the two seems like the biggest point of leverage to Colin and me, yet we note that Verizon didn't even mention a VDMS role in any public comments on the deal.

Meanwhile, in a week when the pay-TV industry suffered its first-ever first quarter loss of video subscribers, we also discuss how Verizon seems intent on innovating beyond the traditional multichannel bundle.

Listen in to learn more!

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Ad tech provider Jivox has announced a series of updates to its Jivox IQ platform, streamlining workflows for advertisers to create/deliver dynamic ads in programmatic environments. The end goal is for viewers to experience more personalized, relevant ads, based on data that will drive higher engagement. Jivox's founder and CEO Diaz Nesamoney recently briefed me on the updates.

Jivox has redesigned its ad creation environment as Dynamic Ad Studio based on technology it calls "Dynamic Canvas." Instead of using code templates, the technology uses dynamic ad components so assets can be resized, depending on where the ads are delivered. This also reduces the ads' weight for improved loading.

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More evidence that video advertisers are embracing multiscreen strategies: Videology reports that in Q1 '15, 58% of all campaigns on its platform ran on more than one screen, up from just 17% in Q1 '14. Almost half (46%) of campaigns ran on Desktop/Mobile/OTT, vs. 40% on desktop only.

The most popular campaign objectives remained view-through rate and click-through rate, followed by audience verification and viewable rate. Another big shift was that 89% of campaigns ran on VPAID inventory in Q1 '15, up from 52% in Q1 '14. Videology believes this reflects brands' increased appetite for interactivity, creativity and measurability not possible in the VAST format.

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Mobile video advertising is red-hot. According to Opera Mediaworks' new State of Mobile Advertising report, mobile video ad impressions in its network rose to 12.8% of all its impressions in Q1 '15, up from just 2.5% of all its impressions in Q1 '14. Mobile video advertising is also much more profitable than other formats, accounting for 55% of revenue delivered to publishers in Opera's ad network.

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2,400 industry executives and fans packed the Madison Square Garden Theater for YouTube's Brandcast NewFront Wednesday night that was part 10-year birthday celebration, part evangelical commercial about online video/YouTube's ascendance and part pure entertainment spectacle.

The evening began with YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki noting that hours watched are up 50% year-over-year and that YouTube now reaches more 18-49 year olds on mobile ALONE, than does any single cable network reach on TV. YouTube daily viewers are up 40% vs. 2014. And in a pitch to how advertisers can succeed on YouTube, Wojcicki said that 4 out of 10 of the top trending videos in 2014 were actually ads, not content.

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Hulu held its NewFront on Wednesday, highlighting its growth, which includes approaching 9 million subscribers, up 50% vs. 2014, with 700 million hours of video streamed in Q1 '15, up 83% vs. Q1 '14. Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins said that 61% of Hulu's viewers no longer watch on a computer. 82% of Hulu's audience is in the 18-49 year-old age range, with a median age of 33 years-old.

I have long wondered whether Hulu was going to be the odd man out, sandwiched between Netflix, OTT's 800-pound gorilla, and Amazon, with its unlimited resources. But Hulu is clearly investing heavily in both licensed and original content, and seemingly carving out its place in the OTT landscape.

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AOL hosted its NewFronts presentation Tuesday night, with the key highlights including a new strategy dubbed "Content 365" structured around a screen-based content development approach, a new slate of 16 different programs, and a deal to obtain clips from NBCU's entertainment and news programs.

Content 365, the new mantra from AOL, describes an expansion from a NewFronts "season" to a NewFronts "year." AOL's content development strategy is to focus on 3 formats: short/snackable for smartphones, 5-7 minute mid-form "storytelling" for tablets and desktops and longer-form for connected TVs. In all, AOL plans to produce over 3,600 pieces of video in 2015.

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Capitalizing on video's tremendous monetization potential has become a top priority for all content providers, as evidenced by the biggest-ever NewFronts, which kick off today. But newly released survey results highlight how some content providers are already better positioned than others to actually profit from video advertising.

Ad tech provider Operative provided me with a cut of data from a new benchmarking survey it released last week, evaluating the correlations between video ad sales/operational effectiveness and profitability. The overall survey, done in partnership with Digital Content Next, provides insights into 194 content providers, with the cut I received focusing on the 70 content providers that generate at least 25% of their online billable revenues from video.

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