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In the hierarchy of important metrics for video publishers, GRPs reign supreme, followed by impressions. From an advertiser perspective, using these two metrics makes it hard to compare performance across these two similar channels. Many large media companies are also grappling with how to reconcile GRPs and impressions, particularly when they try to build cross-channel media plans for their advertiser partners.  

The biggest problem with GRPs and impressions is that they encourage spending on volume instead of value. While everyone knows that a brand wants to reach a desired audience with a particular frequency, when translated into GRPs or impressions, there are perverse monetary incentives to ignore those guidelines and go for volume instead.

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Digital Video Fracking for the Viewability Age

Since early 2015, digital video media buyers have felt tremendous pressure to deliver “viewable” impressions.  Advertisers want to know, “Was my ad seen or did it at least have the opportunity to be seen?”  There’s a gold rush of VC-backed tech companies clamoring to be the virtual pick and shovel providers for an industry that is hungry for viewability.  With nascent measurement standards in flux and varying technical solutions, the industry is experiencing some turmoil.

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YouTube in its first decade has both transformed itself and the industry, which conjures the possibilities of what it can be by 2020.  YouTube’s audience, currently one billion global monthly unique views, ranks as a top-tier advertising business that fundamentally changes TV, the entertainment industry, and how brands spend their advertising budgets.  Here are ten predictions how YouTube will dominate the video ecosystem:

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Watching TV isn’t what it used to be. We have shifted from one screen having a monopoly on our viewing experience, being obligated to watch in a fixed place and at the whim of the operator’s regularly scheduled programming. Now, broadcasters and publishers must reach multiple screens, make content available to any viewer, anywhere, and most notably, whenever they want to watch.

The rise of OTT isn’t just inevitable - we’ve arrived.

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Television is facing a transformational moment in history, as viewers have more choices than ever before. Though still a fundamental pillar of marketing and a nearly $80 billion business, television has been dramatically changed by the rise of viewing devices and streaming options, and advertising buyers and sellers alike are struggling to keep up.

Based on our own data, as well as third-party data, we present three key findings:

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Controversy and confusion - two words that describe native video advertising. It may be one of the industry’s latest emerging ad formats, but brands, advertisers, media executives and even the Federal Trade Commission have been in advertising purgatory over it - questioning whether native video is a real form of advertising or a publisher trick to make consumers believe an ad is actually editorial content. Couple this with the debate over the high price tag, and the looming question remains: “Is native video advertising worth investing in?”  

The answer is yes, and this article will explore why.

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We’ve all heard the adage: if content is King, then distribution is King Kong.  For years, distribution and content have been the King and King Kong of advertising: the synergistic, dynamic duo that owned the consumer relationship. But, with Verizon’s purchase of AOL and other recent industry moves, King and King Kong are joining forces with new and powerful allies.

It used to be that creators of content, such as television networks, owned the consumer relationship. Back in the day, brands looked chiefly to the television advertising upfront presentations for the demographic info they desired to drive brand awareness. Consumer focus groups filled in the rest of puzzle.

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More than two years ago, Ooyala wrote an article entitled “It’s High Time We F**ked With the Magic,” which called for the advertising industry to align behind a standard for online GRP measurement. (The article’s title refers to an oft-told industry story in which a media company exec accuses a Google exec of “f**ing with the magic” by making it easier for marketers to track their online ad spend.) Nearly thirty months later, we’ve seen some advances on the standards front, but we’re still asking the industry to dispense with the magic in measurement.

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