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Who Are Video Ad Networks Really Working For?
Following is a guest post from Erik Swain, Vice President of Operations of SpotXchange, a leading online video ad network and marketplace.
Who Are Video Ad Networks Really Working For?
by Erik Swain
According to a recent eMarketer report online video ad spending will grow 52% this year. This $2.2 billion industry has caused a surge of ad networks to sprout up to meet customer demand. But beware. In order to leverage this gold rush of video ad spending, ad networks are striking deals with publishers that may not be in the advertiser’s best interest. And that’s bad for everyone.
How Online Video Advertising Works Today
Buying media for online video ads is similar to display media. Advertisers can purchase impressions from a video ad network to reach their ideal audiences across a variety of publishers. Some of these networks are blind, meaning they provide assurances that the ads are reaching the right audiences but no insight into on which sites the ads appear. Other networks are transparent, meaning they give the advertiser full visibility into the publishers where ads run. And there’s the most common middle ground, often referred to as opaque, where ad networks provide a list of the publishers it works with and sites where ads are likely to run.
But here’s where the problem often comes in: some ad networks make guarantees to publishers to fill a set number of impressions. As a result, ad campaigns are often delivered and optimized based on the ad network’s obligation to the publisher rather than against campaign objectives. While that may be good for the publisher in the short term, it begs the question - who is your ad network really working for?
It’s in the best interest of everyone in the industry to ensure that video content is being monetized to the benefit of both the publisher and the marketer. While a publisher’s inventory may be filled in the short term under the arrangement described above, it’s a dangerous long term strategy that could lead to unsold impressions when the advertiser doesn’t get the results it needs.
Four Ways to Evaluate Your Ad Network
It’s a mistake for publishers to assume that picking an ad network is just an advertiser’s problem. Here are some tips for both publishers and marketers to consider when evaluating video ad networks:- Are they blind or transparent to advertisers? To meet inventory requirements, blind networks may be more likely to backfill from sites that might not meet the qualification criteria of the ad campaign. On the other hand, transparent companies may only sell the impressions they can fulfill - while the media buy may be lower, engagement levels will increase with higher quality buyers.
- How do they optimize video ads? Opt for a network that offers flexible performance metrics like completion and click-through rates, so that the ads delivered are more likely to keep people engaged with the ad and the video content. Sites that yield higher conversions should be targeted more heavily - advertisers get higher ROI and high-performing publishers get better engagement and get paid a CPM on all media delivered, not just completed views. Some networks are exploring interesting pay for performance models like Cost Per View (CPV) to better measure engagement. With CPV, advertisers only pay when users watch their video ad from start to finish.
- How do they vet their partners? How does your ad network evaluate their publishing partners? Do they have a full-time Quality Assurance team that constantly monitors sites to ensure brand-safe, appropriate video ad placements? Does the team take a close look at referring URLs, placement of video ads on the site and burn rates? Video ad networks that partner with and use third party media verification services like DoubleVerify, Telemetry, AdXpose and Peer39 are a good start. Finally, are all the network’s sites classified, categorized and filtered for brand safety, planning, targeting and forecasting? It is important to ensure their practices will protect your brand throughout your business relationship.
- Are they IAB Certified? The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) certifies ad networks and exchanges that voluntarily comply with their quality assurance guidelines. Top video ad networks adhere to these guidelines and believe strongly that they promote transparency and increase trust between marketers, agencies, ad networks and exchanges.
The industry is at an inflection point and we’re all responsible to make sure we can set ourselves up for continued growth by monetizing video content in a way that works for all parties. It’s up to both publishers and advertisers to select ad networks carefully.Categories: Advertising
Topics: SpotXchange
