Video Ad Formats - It's Not The Technology

For at least the past two years, the pre-roll video ad has been maligned as a format that's annoying and not very user-friendly.  Instead people point to a number of new formats that make for a much better user experience.  A number of companies, Brightcove included, have been innovating on these ad formats:  I remember seeing prototypes of the overlay format when I joined Brightcove during the summer of 2005.  Since then we and our clients have also been approached by many companies offering a new technology around ad formats -- hotspots, overlays, performance-based text links -- all touting the advantage of their technology. 

But it's not a technology problem.  Technology is the easy part.  The hard part is getting enough scale in terms of users and inventory to warrant attention from advertisers and agencies.  And the hardest part is getting agencies to change their creative and media planning processes to incorporate these new formats.  These processes are rightly designed for efficiency and it is simply too cumbersome for them to contemplate new formats if the buy can't move the needle for their client in terms of reach.

Comments

[Darren Herman]

Rags, I agree with you 100%. For many things to scale, you need widely used formats.

[Rob Sandie]

Being from a younger generation myself (<24), I know that me and others block out traditional advertising. The world is changing and believe to reach people, that there are better ways to do it then "traditional" ways.

Take for instance facebook. They have innovated significantly on "Social Ads" and is it working for them? I believe it is and find myself more likely to engage in something that is being "asked" of me.

If you compare that against Myspace (who recently was passed 3 months ago according to Alexa), they don't "ask" they force banners and many other ads down your throat while browsing the site.

I am not saying that innovative ad units are the future, but I will say that tradition must be broken and in my opinion advertisers must start thinking outside the banner...ehhem... box.