The ‘Digital TV and Video’ Category
Video ad marketplace SpotXchange - a portion of whose inventory is real-time biddable - announced the integration of a new optimization technology called "Otto" which it says will allow buyers to more efficiently buy video ads. In a release, the company claims that "it is the first video ad network to automatically optimize campaigns to achieve the best performance possible at scale." Read the release on SpotXchange's website.
SpotXchange CEO Mike Shehan discussed the announcement and its implications.
AdExchanger.com: Why is an auto-optimization solution necessary? Can't SpotXchange buyers optimize effectively?
MS: SpotXchange operates an auction-based marketplace connecting advertisers and publishers in real-time, which has always allowed our buyers to operate the most efficient, best-performing video ad campaigns. However, Otto, our machine learning algorithm technology, represents yet another SpotXchange advancement that allows buyers to maximize campaign performance. From our perspective, when you’re talking about a video ad marketplace of tens of thousands of sites representing over 80 million monthly unique viewers, and 30 million daily impression opportunities in 15 countries, no human would be able to evaluate each opportunity and fully optimize every single ad placement. Otto doesn’t replace humans; "he" just makes them more effective.
Does this make you a competitor to some of your buyers in that you will be working on an IO basis with your optimization engine - and some buyers will not be using the engine? How do you handle this?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
At last week's AlwaysOn OnMedia event, former Tacoda CEO and current Simulmedia CEO Dave Morgan presented his take on the opportunity within ad technology and, unsurprisingly, it leads to the television business where Morgan's current ad tech company is focused. In his presentation, he provides his own take on an ecosystem map for what he calls "Targeted TV." View the prez and see below.
Morgan discussed the map and the targeted TV business with AdExchanger.com.
AdExchanger.com: With your "Targeted TV Advertising Technology Landscape," you've entered the world made famous by LUMA Partners Terence Kawaja and his ecosystem map for display ad tech. What are some of the key differences between yours and his other than its for TV?
DM: As you can tell, our Targeted TV Advertising Technology Landscape is inspired by the one that Terry created for the Display Advertising Technology Landscape - in fact, he is going to help with ours and we'll be co-branding it going forward. The striking thing is that the web ad tech and next-generation TV ad tech landscapes are quite similar. We think that the "Web-ification" of the TV industry will lead to an ad tech industry with a number of parallels to the one that developed for the PC web. However, it will have critical differences:
- It will be much bigger - TV advertising in the US is a $70 billion annual industry; display advertising in the US is only a $9 billion industry;
- It will be less crowded - today, the online display ad tech eco-system is crowded with thousands of companies; I doubt that we will ever see that happen in TV, since the TV industry is so much more concentrated around a limited number of very large networks and distributors; and finally,
- It will have more optimization upside - today, the online display market is already optimized by data and technology at probably a 90% level; TV ads, by contrast, are data and tech optimized at probably only a 10% level at best.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
Atul Patel is CEO of OneScreen, a technology platform that operates a video exchange for content producers, publishers/distributors, and advertisers.
AdExchanger.com: Where did the idea come from for OneScreen? And, what's the name mean?
The idea of OneScreen came when we applied our insights from startups in lead generation and display advertising to the digital video space. Both of these industries had developed technologies that integrate much of their respective ecosystems, such as lead management software and demand-side platforms, but the video space had only disparate applications, and in some sense, it still does. It is obviously not easy to transfer what works in lead gen or display to video, because in video there are more stakeholders and more complex technologies involved. But we are taking on this challenge at OneScreen by becoming the most integrated hub connecting the entire digital video ecosystem.
The name depicts a very critical trend that we saw early on. The different screens that are in front of consumers – televisions, computers, portable devices, and place-based screens – are now or soon will be sourced digitally from the Internet making their distinctions less important. The significance of this convergence includes the opportunity to cross-pollinate and integrate participants, business models, technologies, and even user-engagement. To us, and I believe inevitably to all audiences, it will be “one screen” figuratively.
What problem is OneScreen solving?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
At first blush, recent acquisitions in the video ad network space give the appearance the video ad business is on fire - in a good way.
But, digging deeper, it seems that exits may not be happening at the levels first imagined for some video ad network entrepreneurs and investors as there have been quite a few entrants flooding the category and, except for a few working on differentiation through technology, the only other real differentiation seems to be scale. And, it's no wonder scale is important as all anyone ever hears about is the incredibly high CPMs in online video ads.
From here, there appears to be three factors involved in the high CPMs:
- Engagement - As everyone knows, having to sit through a 15 second pre-roll ad is a very different experience than viewing (for an instant) a graphical display ad which might be to the side or above the website content.
- It's Like TV - Online video ads remind the marketers and their agencies of television and buying TV spots. This mindset creates tons of demand especially as the marketer struggles to follow the user online. Much to their detriment, marketers and agencies often use TV spots for online video ads without any customization for the Web.
- Scarcity - There just isn't a lot of available, non-guaranteed video ad inventory unless you're willing to use the social network world's supply of sometimes questionable, non-brand-safe content.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
Mike Shehan is CEO of SpotXchange, an online video advertising network. The company is announcing a new real-time bidding-enabled service for online video ads today. Read the release.
AdExchanger.com: First, can you provide some background on SpotXchange?
MS: SpotXchange is an online video advertising network that offers brand advertisers a scalable, efficient and measurable way to attract new customers with high-quality online video ads on premium websites. Focused on performance, SpotXchange is a one-stop shop for advertisers and publishers, offering a simple, automated way to deliver targeted, effective and efficient video ad campaigns.
Serving highly interactive in-stream and in-banner video ads in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, China, New Zealand and Australia, among other countries, SpotXchange is the #3 online video ad network in the United States, and #1 in the UK and Australia for potential reach, according to comScore. SpotXchange is a privately-held company based in Denver and has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and London.
What problem is SpotXchange solving?
To put it simply, the lack of widely adopted standards and the difficulty involved with integrating dynamic in-stream video into video player environments has made it terribly difficult for advertisers to access large quantities of high-quality premium video ad inventory. Consequently, those advertisers that don’t currently use SpotXchange have not been able to operate highly targeted audience-based buys on a transparent basis that is typical of display buys. Instead, advertisers have often relied on direct sponsorship models, which limit reach and effectiveness.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
Yesterday, it was announced that video ad network Tremor Media had acquired ScanScout. In a trade industry article, Ad Age's Michael Learmonth notes, "The combined Tremor/Scanscout served a collective 667.5 million video ads in September, according to ComScore, a close second to Hulu's 794 million." Read it. ScanScout CEO Bill Day will become the CEO of the combined entity while Tremor Media CEO Jason Glickman will become executive chairman.
Tremor Media CEO Jason Glickman discussed the merger and its implications.
AdExchanger.com: Is the ScanScout acquisition mostly about scale? If so, what does "scale" give Tremor Media?
JG: Scale provides for a fluidity of inventory that allows for largely 3 things: 1) you can find deeply targeted audiences that some advertisers desire, in meaningful numbers, which allows for verticals within our broad coverage. 2) it allows for our engagement engine to find the right audience where brand lift or purchase intent is likely to occur. Scale allows us to optimize each ad call in that manner and not simply drive for a simple objective like a click. 3) scale allows us to reach a very large audience at an optimal frequency. For too long the web has been bought on impressions alone. Finally we can offer real reach and frequency and not simply bombard the same viewers repeatedly which only causes harm. And of course, all of the above happens with the beauty of video advertising with innovative ad formats that push the envelope far beyond the :15 and :30 TV spot.
What is another area that Tremor may look to for a possible acquisition? Mobile or creative tech, perhaps?
We've got some excellent core competencies already when it comes to HTML5 developments, and we are the pioneer in bringing proprietary new creative formats to market. That said, all options are on the table that fit in our core values and expand our capabilities that matter…we won't simply buy something that doesn't fit with our objectives.
How long until we get to an upfront model for online video advertising which echoes the TV market? Is the upfront what attracts TV ad dollars online?
An upfront is a model that works when you own the programming and launch new shows that will launch in 6 months henceforth. I'm not sure that we need to replicate that market efficiency. However we do sign advertisers to annual deals quite often. Not a week goes by where we don't speak with a Fortune 500 marketer about a deep partnership that involves an annual spend. These advertisers are committing to multiple 7 figures budgets and are increasingly positioning their buys against core demographics that are important to brand advertisers, similar to how they evaluate their TV is spend.
By John Ebbert
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
Video ad marketplace Adap.tv announced recently that it is seeing "a 92 percent average monthly growth rate for video ad views within its marketplace since the launch in February 2010". Read the release.
Adap.tv founder and VP of Product Teg Grenager provided some perspective on recent developments at his company.
AdExchanger.com: Historically, there has been a lot less non-guaranteed video ad inventory available than, say, pc-based graphical display. Do you see this changing? Why or why not?
TG: Premium pre-roll inventory is in very high demand and, currently, there are supply constraints. This is not likely to change. Unlike display advertising, where many publishers designate a portion of their inventory as "remnant," pre-roll inventory is available as fixed placements and drives higher engagement. What the adap.tv marketplace provides buyers is increased access to a high volume of premium video inventory.
How would you characterize your announced results in comparison to your expectations a year ago? Ahead, behind, in-line?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
Dan Greenberg is CEO of Sharethrough, a social video advertising and technology company.
AdExchanger.com: Your bio notes that you were a teaching assistant in a Facebook class in Stanford in 2007. Why is this relevant to your new venture at Sharethrough? Also, gotta ask, how did you "grade" someone in a Facebook class?
DG: The Stanford Facebook class was where I met my company's co-founder, Rob Fan, as well as Dave McClure, a Sharethrough advisor and BJ Fogg, the lead professor who taught the class. The class was originally intended to explore the application of user psychology and digital persuasion theories to test engagement and virality, using Facebook applications as the real-time testing grounds.
The students were split into teams and they each built Facebook apps that tested different motivators and influence strategies. Long story short, many of the teams' projects "went viral" and grew to millions of users in a matter of weeks. Grades were given to teams as a function of their application's user engagement and virality, combined with the thoughtfulness of the team's analysis and approach. Grades or not, everyone in the class got an A for effort.
During that time, Rob and I came together to build some of our own applications outside of the class. By engineering our applications for maximum sharing, we experienced massive and immediate user growth.
Given my history working with brand advertisers and viral video campaigns, we experimented with integrating branded video ad campaigns into our applications via social video ad placements. The user engagement levels were phenomenal, and the opportunity for encouraging organic user sharing gave us and our customers a glimpse of the future. Our volume of social video ad campaigns quickly grew past the reach of our own apps, so we began to build a publisher network of social video sites, games, apps, websites, blogs and social networks, and a technology platform to manage all of those network partners.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
Adam Singolda is CEO of Taboola, a video recommendation and advertising company.
AdExchanger.com: It seems more and more content recommendation companies are getting into ads. Why does this make sense?
AS: Advertisements that are suggested as content with high intent and context have long been the most productive and highest yielding online. Examples are Google Adwords (search ads), infomercials, and most recently, promoted tweets on Twitter .
As publishers already have navigation real estate on their content pages (such as ‘popular items’, ‘more from the same category’, etc), leveraging that space to display personalized items as well as sponsored recommendations makes sense for publishers and users alike. Publishers aren’t required to allocate additional real estate on their pages, and users can easily find the contextually relevant ads and engage with them within the context of the player.
What problem is Taboola solving?
As video inventory is becoming more abundant, navigating through video libraries is getting harder -which is a difficult technology problem to solve .
We find that on average, most viewers watch only one video per session when visiting Websites that offer videos.
Taboola solves this problem. Different users have different needs and in different times.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
Publicis VivaKi's Pool efforts appear to be paying off.
ClickZ's Jack Marshall reports that Google's YouTube will add VivaKi's Pool video ad format, known as the "ASq video advertising unit", and joins Hulu, AOL, and Yahoo which had already announced adoption of the format in August. VivaKi's video ad methodology allows consumers to select their own ads in return for seeing the content they really want to see. Read more.
This news follows up Google's own announcements at the IAB MIXX event the day before and Google's prediction that cost-per-view model video ads will achieve a 50% adoption rate by 2015.
So, what's the implication for advertisers whether they are targeting with cookies, RTB-style, or not?
Assuming all the ads are the same length, from here, it seems that three key elements will drive performance and be important data points for understanding and targeting users who are about to select an ad they like best:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Digital TV and Video | No Comments »
