The DVC reports that there are three main kinds of video ads:
In-stream (ad formats related to a video player). These are ads that reach a user while they are watching video content through a media player. The ad creative can be video (like pre-roll) or graphical (like an overlay or a companion ad).
In-banner (video ads you access through a banner). The video content itself is the ad (think rich media).
In-text (best known as what Vibrant Media and Kontera do). You scroll over a word, and it plays a video ad that is contextually relevant to the content.
The DVC's recent guide focuses on in-stream ad formats, which it further breaks down as follows:
Non-linear. Ads that you see while you're watching a video. Non-linear includes overlays and product placements.
Linear. Ads that you see while the video is stopped or paused (pre-, mid- and post-roll).
While the DVC paper continues with more detailed guidelines -- including file formats, file sizes and even recommended sizes for companion ads -- it did leave some areas open to experimentation. For instance, it gave no preference for overlays appearing on the bottom, top or side of the screen, though the bottom position has been most popular up to now.
The findings
While the guidelines offered in the DVC paper are quite detailed, I'd like to provide an overview of some of the most basic recommendations for linear and non-linear ad formats.
Linear video ads
Length. The DVC recommends that linear video ads be no more than 30 seconds in length, or 60 seconds in rare cases like post-roll. Interestingly, the document leaves room for 30-second pre-rolls even though the industry's creative leaders have almost universally decried them. But as marketers are still buying them, the IAB guide did offer some guidelines for making the process more seamless.
Controls. The guidelines also state that it is best for these spots to be host-initiated and that, at minimum, start/stop and volume control should be present. Other interactive controls such as fast-forward, rewind and pause are preferable options, and all controls should be enabled throughout video play (with the exception of fast-forward).
Additional considerations. The DVC guide also made recommendations for best practices for publishers. These include:
- Video players should accommodate 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios.
- Publishers should disclose to advertisers when running multiple ads in a pod during commercial breaks.
- Short-form video creative (bumpers) should be of 3-10 seconds in length.
- The ratio of ad-to-content length should stay below 25 percent.
- Frequency capping practices should be employed and disclosed.
Non-linear video ads
Length. At a maximum, the ad should display for 5-15 seconds and should be persistent.
Controls. By clicking on or rolling over an overlay, the ad should expand to auto-initiated video, the interactive ad, or it should take the user to the advertiser's site. Audio should be host-initiated, but only once the full ad has been expanded by the user's action.
Additional considerations. For non-linear video overlay ads, publishers should include a persistent close button in the upper right corner and should clearly use overlay labels to identify the unit as an advertisement. For non-overlay invitation ads, the invitation should be presented as anchored to either the bottom or the top of the player.