In case you’ve missed last week’s roundup, here you go.
Digital Video Advertising – What’s Next?
Without a doubt, video ads are on the rise. Nearly, 60 percent of digital advertising spends are allocated to video ads, according to IAB.
“More than 8 in 10 advertisers agree that ODV (Original Digital Video) programming is an essential part of their media buy”
– IAB.
We believe it is about to beat all the predictions. Because the two most compelling issues are settling on the solutions.
#1 Unified Video Ad Measurement and Analytics
As you know, users view the same content (including ads) over and over using different devices. This means advertisers will get a broken-view of no.of. impressions served, clicks, etc. on each platform separately.
But, brands need a measuring system that is capable of showing the actual viewers without any duplication; not just views.
Solution?
Meet, ComScore’s ‘Campaign Rating Tool’. The tool is capable of measuring the actual viewers across the platforms including linear TV, OTT, and mobile, without any duplication issues. The tool, which was announced last week will be rolled out to brands coming September (beta).
ICYDK: Nielsen, ComScore’s competitor offers a similar tool called ‘Digital Ad Ratings’. The tool offers a unified view of the viewers across the devices.
#2 Comprehensive Video Ad Measurement
When it comes to video ads, viewability and brand safety have never been in more demand. Leveraging the wind, Freewheel Video Monetization Platform partnered with Integral Ad Science to help publishers by measuring viewability, brand safety, and fraud.
Takeaway: Buyers have been flocking towards video advertising. However, the inability to provide the right measurement and analytics seems to be increasing every day. Any solutions for resolving the pain points would be attracting some serious attention.
As a publisher, are you making sure you have the right measurement provider and quality inventories to build a direct relationship or to claim higher CPMs?
The hype is real
So, are the video ads worth it?
In 2017, the spending amounted to approximately 10.11 billion U.S. dollars and it is forecast to reach 19.26 billion in 2020.
– Statistica.
Let’s leave statistics for a moment. Want to hear it from the real advertisers?
Jump into the pool of advertisers waiting to skyrocket Amazon’s ad revenue. What are they waiting for?
‘More Video Ads’.
Yes, Digiday interviewed brand advertisers to talk about their interest in Amazon advertising platform. As you know, Amazon raked in $2.2 billion dollars in Q2. Even though it seems to be a fraction what the duopoly did in the same quarter, Amazon is poised to hit the higher ground soon.
And, video ads might be the one paving the way for Amazon. Some advertisers said they’re waiting to see more sophisticated video ads on Amazon. Almost all the interviewed advertisers said they’ll consider Amazon as soon as there is the right format available in the self-serving platform.
What’s the takeaway?
- Video ads are on Amazon. But, not all of them can be bought using the Amazon’s self-serving platform. Ensure the advertisers can buy impressions from you easily.
- Lack of Ad Formats – Brands need more options to choose from. So, make sure you offer a variety of rich media ad formats and experiment with innovative video ad formats too.
Ad Blockers Problem? Put Your Users First.
Digital Advertising industry has been haunted by ad blockers for the last few years. On one hand, publishers are in constant need to run ads to power their content (As you know, paywalls aren’t for everyone). On the other hand, users who don’t like to be tracked or to be shown with ads keep on installing ad blockers.
What’s the solution, then?
At first, it may seem like there’s no mutual solution to this problem. But, the latest survey conducted by the OpenX, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), and MediaMath revealed an interesting inference that might help us all to deal with ad blockers.
What is it?
- Around 70 percent of the consumers would be open to view more ads if they’re relevant to them.
- A staggering 79 percent of the consumers prefer opt-in (video) advertising over any other formats of advertising.
Takeaway: Instead of worrying about ad blockers, publishers should start partnering with the right SSPs and bidder partners. This, in turn, improves relevancy and user experience. So, there will be lesser chances of users blacklisting your site or installing ad blockers.
Premium Publishers Ad Strategy
Every now and then, it’s important to take a look at the market and see what’s going on. Last week, we heard a few premium publishers’ new strategies. Let’s see what are they.
1. Reuters – Total Time Spent
Reuters, a London-based news publisher is pushing a brand new strategy. The news publisher’s app is going to be optimized for ‘Total Time Spent’ rather than the page views. In general, publishers will focus on page views as each view generates them more impressions and ultimately, higher revenue.
Why?
Reuters.com has an average page view of 3 (from SimilarWeb) and approximately publishers 5,500 pieces of content each day (From Digiday). It means, they’re going to get page views easily, but the time spent on each page matters a lot. Hence, the app will personalize its feed based on the user activity over time to make sure the users spend more time on the content.
2. Bloomberg – Ad.apt format
We’ve heard enough about rich media ad formats and video ads. And, of course, advertisers seem to like them too. However, Bloomberg takes a U-turn to try a new ‘display ad format’.
When we say display ad format, it’s not a standard rectangular IAB ad unit. Bloomberg is attempting to create its own ad format. Dubbed as ‘Ad.apt’, it combines assets such as video, image, and headline to frame a tailored ad for the visitor.
Why?
“Standard banners don’t perform the way anyone would like them to”
– Derek Gatts, Global head of Ad trafficking, technology, and product, Bloomberg Media.
Bloomberg Media isn’t only one who’s revamping the display format. The New York Times, similarly closed down its banner ads and started offering its own ad format. It’s the next step.
3. The Financial Times – Audience Mapping
The Financial Times developed an audience mapping tool to boost its repeated ad sales. The tool will help advertisers to reach an audience across all the FT properties including print and app. The tool is capable of calculating the reach by platform, region, audience, etc.
What’s the bottom line for Advertisers?
It will show how many times the targeted user will view the ad.
Why?
As we saw previously, marketers and advertisers are looking for a holistic view of the audience metrics without any duplication. FT is aiming to pioneer the way for publishers.
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At Automatad, we help publishers to monetize better without hampering the user experience. Our products are live across hundreds of publishers, earning them incremental ad revenue with every passing second. You can request a free audit to get an estimated revenue uplift today.
