Video Ad Solutions

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Warning: All ad solutions are not created equal. Unlike a banner or even a piece of rich media that can be flown relatively independently of what content is on the page, video is so tightly woven within a player environment and content management system that the ad products developed to monetize video must be taken into consideration. There are a number of ad products to choose from, spanning from pre-roll and in-stream to sponsorship skinning and overlay bugs.

Time, vocal users and advertiser adoption will tell which ad products are best, but presently, the most popular and valuable ad product is the pre-roll. More aptly referred to as "in-stream video" -- because in a playlisted environment, one video's pre-roll is another video's mid-roll or post-roll -- most video platforms are built around delivering these types of campaigns.

Some in-stream players are synchronized with companion banners and others contain stand-alone companion units, which act like skins around the video. Some video ad solutions intermittently scroll messages across the screen, and recently we've seen the proliferation of an execution that inserts a banner or a number of text links at the end of single asset playback experience. This end-cap solution has become the defacto for user-generated content because of limited real estate within embedded players, especially when these assets are syndicated out to other pages using an embed code.

Here are steps for successful video ad product development:

1. Get up front and personal with the technology development organization. The more that is understood about the player and content management system, the more intuitive the advertising packages can be created and sold.
2. Understand the environment. Start with the basics like: How big is the video window going to be? Will it accept widescreen video or full-screen video? What format will the video be streamed in? What code environment will the player be built on? Be creative and learn all the limitations inherent to your player environment. It's good to know up front what can and can't be done.
3. Create consistent targeting and ad unit synchronization. Ask questions like: How are the video ads going to be targeted to the content? How will we balance user experience with advertiser experience for the best return on our video investment? How are banners going to be synchronized to the in-stream ad units? Don’t be afraid to talk to the ad-serving engineers.
4. Plan for going beyond industry standard reporting. While the IAB Digital Video standards say that tracking an ad comes as close to "the opportunity to see" (OTS) as possible, that doesn't mean that advertisers won't like you more if you provide them with a view through percentages, separated clicks on the video vs. the companion banner unit, engagement, reach and frequency.
5. Map out the process for your traffickers. The traffickers will be handing multiple creatives from multiple internal and external resources. The creative need to be linked and loaded in a special manner so the more there is written down the better. Know that the traffickers are the unsung heroes of online advertising and aiming to make them happy can eliminate bottlenecks in scaling your product. 
6. Don't be afraid to test, test and test again. When there are lots of moving pieces, as there almost always are when dealing with video, proper QA is crucial.

By looking holistically at the video ecosystem, more valuable and scalable video ad products can be created. These will make users, advertisers, publishers and networks happier and more profitable and will ultimately lead to products that can scale over many campaigns and birth the impending billion-dollar video ad industry.

Ben Barokas is the director of product and innovation at the Fifth Network. Read full bio.