Of all the emerging ad platforms, video advertising is perhaps the one category that holds the most promise and is seeing the greatest increase in demand. While demand is strong, one of the challenges is growing the amount of available inventory. However, as broadband continues to expand and consumers increasingly demand more video content online, the issue of scale becomes less troublesome.

While online video advertising shows the most potential and strong demand from advertisers, it is not without other challenges. Like most of these emerging categories, the devil is in the details. Deployment is still a challenge, despite the emergence of networks designed to help marketers execute video smoothly.

One of the major frustrations cited by many marketers is the ability to synchronize their online video delivery with the ads delivered into the units adjacent to the video. Since consumers are unlikely to take action while watching pre-roll or interstitial video ads, it's crucial for marketers that publishers are also able to serve ads into the adjacent ad units, so consumers can take action at their leisure. Unfortunately, many advertisers report there is very little integration between the video advertising and the adjacent units. Currently, few publishers use the same technology to deliver their pre-roll advertising and their on-site advertising. As a result, analyzing the efficacy on video advertising is an exercise in futility. There is a lack of standardization for delivery, reporting and analysis. Additionally, advertisers uncomfortable with marketing on consumer-generated media should strongly consider if online video networks are appropriate for them.

Despite these complexities, the richness afforded by online video is proving irresistible to advertisers that are eager to exploit their television assets online. CPMs for online video tend to range from $15 to $40, significantly higher than television CPMs but are likely to drop as online video becomes a mainstream tactic. The explosion of online video networks, as well as the incorporation of video offerings on traditional web ad networks, bodes well for the future of online video, as does the upsurge in consumer usage. The primary challenge is offering a simplified, standardized solution to advertisers.

Examples include:
24/7 Real Media
Advertising.com
AP Online Video Network
BlueLithium
Brightcove AdNet
BrightRoll
Eggnetwork
The Fifth Network
Google AdWords Video
IVN (owned by Interep Interactive)
Revver
Tremor
Unicast
Vibrant
YuMe Networks