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Adobe Expands Into Online Video Advertising Through Auditude Acquisition
Adobe is expanding into the surging online video advertising space, announcing that it has acquired video ad manager Auditude, whose Connect platform is used by customers such as Comcast, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, Dailymotion and others. Adobe views Auditude as providing the monetization piece of an integrated Adobe solution that already includes video creation, publishing and optimization across all IP-enabled devices. Auditude had raised approximately $40 million to date.
The overall solution is targeted to premium video publishers and distributors where Adobe already has a strong footprint through its Flash Media products and Digital Marketing Suite (i.e. Omniture). The deal seems like a pretty smart move since at a minimum Auditude will benefit from exposure to Adobe's large customer base. Adobe's positioning of the deal as streamlining work flows from creation through monetization/measurement will also resonate with publishers who are swamped trying to keep up with myriad new devices, platforms and social media opportunities.
Categories: Advertising, Deals & Financings
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With New Channels On Deck, YouTube Plays "Strategic Catalyst" Role in Online Video Industry
Yesterday the WSJ reported that YouTube may unveil a batch of new original content "channels" as early as next week. YouTube is reportedly investing $100 million in the initiative, with potential content partners including Electus, ShineReveille, FremantleMedia, Tony Hawk, and CSI's Anthony Zuiker. While it's too early to know exactly how all of this will work, I think it is evidence of YouTube playing an important "strategic catalyst" role for the online video industry.
I initially explained this concept last April, comparing YouTube's investment in online-only programming to how cable operators invested in and nurtured
early cable TV networks several decades ago. It's increasingly difficult to recall these networks' humble origins in the midst of current high-profile original entertainment programming and sports broadcasts, not to mention ratings wins, but the reality is that in their fledgling days, distributors were cable networks' lifeblood. Cable operators provided cable networks with distribution, promotion and importantly a business model (monthly affiliate fees and eventually advertising), all of which would expand in the ensuing years. YouTube is now laying the groundwork to do exactly the same thing for online-only programming.
Categories: Advertising, Indie Video
Topics: YouTube
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Report: Standards, User Experience Are Key Hurdles For Online Video Advertising
Though online video advertising is surging, standardization of ads and the user experience are key barriers to its continued growth. That's according to video ad network BrightRoll's 2nd annual publisher report, released this morning, which contains insights about the current state of the online video advertising market. Since the vast majority of the online video ecosystem is supported by advertising today, understanding how to increase spending and effectiveness are crucial to its ongoing success. BrightRoll surveyed over 100 executives at premium content publishers for its report.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: BrightRoll
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YuMe Adds Social and Interactive Elements to Its Pre-Rolls
Video ad technology provider YuMe is enhancing its traditional pre-roll ad with social media and other interactive elements. The new pre-roll unit will include
hooks to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube as well as special offers and store/dealer locator integration. YuMe SVP of Marketing Ed Haslam and Product Marketing Director Alp Pekkocak told me yesterday that the move is a direct response to brands seeking more social engagement throughout their marketing mix as well as competitor initiatives. The new pre-roll unit doesn't cost extra than the prior one.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: YuMe
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Exclusive: Tremor Video's "Video Hub" Analytics Platform Now Available for 3rd Party Use
Tremor Video is announcing later this morning that its Video Hub in-stream video ad analytics platform is now available for brands and agencies to license for use with any 3rd party ad server, ad network or publisher. Tremor unveiled Video Hub in May and since then over 200 brands and agencies have used it with Tremor's own ad server on its ad network as the company finished up development. Anthony Risicato, Tremor's GM for Video Hub told me last week that reactions from these early users have been positive and they've been eager to expand their use of Video Hub to also track and measure the effectiveness of non-Tremor elements of their video ad campaigns.
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: Tremor Video, Video Hub
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Google Rolls Out AdWords for Video, Driving Performance-Based Video Ad Model
Google is announcing AdWords for Video in beta this morning, which radically simplifies the process of creating and running video ad campaigns that reach Google/YouTube's vast audiences. The new initiative also bolsters YouTube's "True View" performance-based approach as Google tries to move the market away from the traditional impressions-based spending.
AdWords for Video creates a dedicated video campaign management capability in the standard AdWords dashboard so that advertisers can efficiently allocate their spending and monitor results. AdWords for Video will benefit from YouTube's status as the biggest video destination, and Google's as the number 1 search engine.
Categories: Advertising
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Vizu Extends Measurement of Video Ads' Brand Lift to VAST/VPAID
Vizu, an online ad technology provider which measures brand lift, announced an upgrade of its platform yesterday which will give brands and agencies greater insight into the effectiveness of in-stream video ad campaigns, an important step to increasing their spending. With the upgrade, Vizu now
supports the VAST/VPAID spec which means Vizu can measure the effectiveness of video ads placed through ad exchanges and real-time bidding platforms as well those bought through direct publisher sales. As Vizu's CEO Dan Beltramo explained to me last week, this is a key step because a significant portion of video ads are already being placed through exchanges and RTB platforms which he expects to grow further.
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: Vizu
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New EyeView Research Demonstrates Impact of Personalized Online Video Ads
Video ad technology provider EyeView is unveiling research this morning that demonstrates how personalized online video ads can improve viewers' purchase intent, brand favorability and brand loyalty. The research underscores how online video advertising continues to differentiate itself from traditional TV advertising with real-time, dynamic creative that breaks through. EyeView CEO Oren Harnevo walked me through the research findings last week.
The research was conducted by Knowledge Networks (KN), which queried approximately 400 online users which were divided in half. Both halves were shown the same online video content with adjacent pre-roll video ads, but one half saw standard TV ads from travel provider Kayak and the other half saw these ads with personalized messaging (e.g. specific flight information from their local airport, etc.). Reactions from the two groups were then compared.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: EyeView
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Tubifi Aims to Crack the High Cost of Video Advertising
Startup Tubifi has an ambitious agenda to dramatically reduce the cost of
video advertising, without sacrificing quality. Founded by a group of CLIO and Emmy-winning executives and technology veterans, Tubifi envisions next-generation video advertising capitalizing on the abundance of stock video footage that eliminates the need to do custom video production that drives up cost. Co-founders John Belchers and Ian Brower explained the company's approach.
As John and Ian see it, video advertising is becoming table stakes for all reasonably sophisticated marketers. The problem is that traditional production models for TV spots are only suited to big companies with big budgets. For small-to-medium sized businesses in the $10-150 million revenue range looking to reach online/mobile audiences primarily, spending $300K-$400K on a single spot is prohibitive.
Categories: Advertising, Startups
Topics: Tubifi
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Who Are Video Ad Networks Really Working For?
Following is a guest post from Erik Swain, Vice President of Operations of SpotXchange, a leading online video ad network and marketplace.
Who Are Video Ad Networks Really Working For?
by Erik Swain
According to a recent eMarketer report online video ad spending will grow 52% this year. This $2.2 billion industry has caused a surge of ad networks to sprout up to meet customer demand. But beware. In order to leverage this gold rush of video ad spending, ad networks are striking deals with publishers that may not be in the advertiser’s best interest. And that’s bad for everyone.
How Online Video Advertising Works Today
Buying media for online video ads is similar to display media. Advertisers can purchase impressions from a video ad network to reach their ideal audiences across a variety of publishers. Some of these networks are blind, meaning they provide assurances that the ads are reaching the right audiences but no insight into on which sites the ads appear. Other networks are transparent, meaning they give the advertiser full visibility into the publishers where ads run. And there’s the most common middle ground, often referred to as opaque, where ad networks provide a list of the publishers it works with and sites where ads are likely to run.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: SpotXchange
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Innovid Raises $9.5 Million to Fuel Interactive Video Ads
Innovid, whose iRoll interactive pre-roll ad unit delivers a higher ROI for advertisers and publishers, is announcing a $9.5 million Series B financing led by
Sequoia Capital, with participation from current investors Genesis Capital and T-Venture. The new funds will help fuel global expansion. Innovid is Sequoia's first investment in the video advertising space. Innovid raised a $4 million first round in September, 2010.
Innovid is now integrated with every U.S. video ad network and 2,100 sites are iRoll certified. iRoll allows advertisers to reach viewers with a limitless array of engagement opportunities, far beyond what standard pre-rolls can offer (a gallery of examples is here). These can include social media sharing, shopping opportunities and localized information, among others. Innovid has also introduced DYNAMO, an ad serving and analytics platform that works with all pre-roll ads and can also measure and report all interactions with iRoll ads.
Categories: Advertising, Deals & Financings
Topics: Innovid, Sequoia Capital
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In-Stream Mobile Video Ad Completion Rates Running Strong
In-stream mobile video ad completion rates are running strong according to new data that mobile video ad network Rhythm NewMedia has shared with me. According to their data, completion rates for pre-roll and mid-roll ads in Q2 '11 averaged 87%, consistent with the prior 5 quarters. The ads viewed are mostly 15 seconds in duration.
Rhythm also reported that a total of just over 6 ads are viewed during full length episodes from premium content partners TV.com, The CW, Crackle and others. Typically there is one ad per break. In addition, total content views grew 200% from Q1 '11 to Q2 '11. Mobile devices include iOS and Android, with 60% of views delivered over WiFi networks.
Categories: Advertising, Mobile Video
Topics: Rhythm NewMedia
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Morgan Spurlock's New Series Premieres on Hulu, With Heavy Monetization
This week Morgan Spurlock's new six-part documentary series "A Day In The Life" premiered on Hulu, which is its exclusive distributor. The premise is that
each episode follows one well-known personality for a full day, giving the viewer an intimate look into their life. The first episode focused on Virgin Group's Richard Branson. Future episodes are set for release on Wednesdays.
I thought the episode was well done and fortunately it doesn't slip into a "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" mode, instead mostly focusing on Branson's promotional tactics in support of Virgin America's new Chicago routes (note "Entourage" fans will enjoy a cameo from actor Adrian Grenier). Perhaps the most interesting thing about "A Day In The Life" wasn't the show itself but how heavily Hulu is monetizing it with ads, illustrating the point I was making just yesterday about online video's potential for heavier ad loads.
Categories: Advertising, Aggregators
Topics: Hulu, Morgan Spurlock
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Video Ads Gain Acceptance; Gap With TV Ad Loads Means Big Opportunity Remains
Yesterday video ad manager FreeWheel released its Q2 '11 Video Monetization Report, chock full of interesting data points gathered across 11.3 billon video views and 6 billion video ad views in the quarter. Among the key findings: long-form content (defined as 20 minutes+) carried an average of nearly 3 ads per view, with an 81% ad completion rate.
I agree with FreeWheel's observation that the implementation of multiple ads in long-form content is akin to the TV model, and the strong ad completion rates (especially for mid-rolls which were the highest at 94-96%) indicate that consumers are becoming more accepting of the fact that premium online video content will be accompanied by ads, just as it is on TV. The data suggested two additional things to me: first, while long-form monetization is improving, a huge opportunity exists in the ad load gap between online delivery and TV and second, online video completion rates could become the basis to offset DVR-driven ad-skipping.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: FreeWheel
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Innovid Quietly Expands iRoll Support Among Ad Networks
Innovid has added Specific Media as the latest video ad network to support its "iRoll" interactive pre-roll ad unit. Specific joins Adap.tv, BrightRoll, Collective, SpotXChange, TidalTV, Tremor Video, Undertone, Value Click and other ecosystem players, which according to the company collectively account for approximately 60% of video ad inventory in the U.S. Large ad networks are important to Innovid because advertisers want huge scale and also the ability to target specific audiences for their campaigns.
For those not familiar with the iRoll, it transforms standard pre-roll ads by adding interactive overlays with customized calls-to-action. These can include social media sharing (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), e-commerce prompts within the video, and mapping and localized information such as the nearest theater a movie is playing to purchase a ticket. Advertisers and agencies can use the Innovid Studio to add the interactive elements. Innovid also offers a full analytics suite.
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: Innovid, Specific Media
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YouTube Delivers 1 Billion "Promoted Videos" Ads
More evidence of YouTube's ability to monetize its massive user base: the company has announced that it has delivered 1 billion views of its "Promoted Videos" ads since launching the program less than 3 years ago. Promoted Videos are an extension of Google's AdWords model, allowing advertisers to upload short video spots, specify keyword results against which Promoted Videos should be highlighted and then set a campaign spending limit.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: YouTube
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Digital Radio and Video Advertising Mix As Slacker Signs Up With YuMe
Digital radio is all the rage these days, and now Slacker Radio, one of the key players, is looking to further monetize its audience through video advertising, by partnering with ad manager YuMe. Under the deal, being announced this morning, Slacker will use YuMe's ACE for Publishers (AFP) ad serving platform to insert ads across multiple devices. Slacker will sell its own ads and will also tap into YuMe's ad network.
Categories: Advertising, Music
Topics: Slacker Radio, YuMe
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VINDICO Served 5 Billion Video Ads in Q2 '11, Estimated 40% Market Share
Video ad platform VINDICO posted a strong Q2 '11, serving 5 billion video ads, up from 1.8 billion in Q2 '10. When VINDICO compares this amount to the
approximately 13.7 billion video ads that comScore reported as delivered during Q2, VINDICO estimates it has close to 40% market share. The company reported that it is now working with 200 clients, a 400% increase over last year, which includes 21 of the top 50 TV advertisers.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: VINDICO
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SupersonicAds CEO Sees Social Game Incented Video Model As the "New Prime Time"
Incented video views in social games are all the rage and yesterday, SupersonicAds, one of the many players in this space, raised a $4.2 million financing from Greylock (bringing its total to date to $6 million). I caught up with SupersonicAds CEO and co-founder Gil Shoham who sees this model as the "new prime time" as it marries the massive usage of social game use in Facebook and elsewhere with brands' desire to reach the audience.
For those not familiar, companies like SupersonicAds (and others such as Jun Group, Blue Noodle, WildTangent, Social Vibe, etc.) work with social game publishers and social networks to promote video ads that reward users with virtual currency for viewing (see Kellogg's example below). Gil sees the reward as the "hook" to get users watching, but the post-viewing engagement (e.g. "Likes," click-throughs, sign-ups, etc.) are based solely on the brand's appeal and the strength of the creative. Gil said 50-80% of users watch the full video, with an average 20% of those "Liking" the brand and 40% returning later to visit the brand's web site.
Categories: Advertising, Games, Social Media
Topics: Facebook, Greylock, SupersonicAds
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1/3 of YouTube's In-Stream Ads Now In Skippable Format
Google executives were as sparing as ever in yesterday's Q2 '11 earnings call with details about YouTube's financial performance, but they did divulge one
interesting new nugget: 1/3 of YouTube's in-stream ads are now in a skippable format. Susan Wojcicki, Google's SVP, Advertising shared the data point to show the rapid progress that YouTube has made since launching its "TrueView" format last December.
TrueView is an important building block in a larger industry initiative Google is pursuing, to have 50% of video ads include a cost-per-view element. Google believes that by giving viewers the option to skip the ad or select a particular one, engagement will be stronger which will in turn drive rates higher. As with DVR ad-skipping, viewers also gain greater control of their experience which so satisfaction will improve.
Categories: Advertising, Aggregators
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