Broadband Video Advertising 101

BROADBAND VIDEO ADVERTISING 101

The web audience’s eyes are already on broadband THE ADVERTISING CHALLENGES OF video, making the player and the surrounding areas the ONLINE PUBLISHERS perfect real estate for advertising. This paper focuses on what publishers need to know about online advertising in Why put advertising on your broadband video? When order to meet their business goals and adapt as the online video plays on a site, the user’s attention is largely drawn advertising environment shifts. away from other content areas on the page and is focused on the video. The player, therefore, is a premium spot for advertising, and this inventory space commands a premium price.

But adding advertising to your online video involves a lot of moving parts and many decisions. You need to consider the following:

• What types and placements of ads do you want? • How do you count the ads that are viewed? • How do you ensure that the right ad gets shown to the right viewer?

Luckily, there are many vendors that can help publishers fill up inventory, manage their campaigns, and get as much revenue from their real estate as possible. This paper focuses on the online advertising needs of the publisher and the services that can help them meet their advertising goals.

THE VIDEO PLATFORM COMCASTTECHNOLOGYSOLUTIONS.COM | 800.844.1776 | © 2017 COMCAST TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS ONLINE VIDEO ADS: THE BASICS AD TYPES You have many choices in how you combine ads with your content. The best ads are whatever engages your consumers, keeps them on your site, and makes them click. To find the best mix of formats, work with your campaign management system to see what mix of formats drives click-through rate.

AD TYPE DESCRIPTION Bumper Bumpers are short ads at either the beginning or end of a video that can take the consumer to a different website or bring up another video when clicked. Bug Bugs are graphics that overlay the video and take the consumer to a different website when clicked. Companion Companion ads typically run alongside the video player and provide consistent visibility of the ad throughout the viewing experience. Contextual Ad Contextual ads are matched to videos based on metadata in a video, providing greater relevancy to the consumer. Linear Video Ad A linear video ad is shown before, while, or after the consumer watches the video. Types of linear ads include pre-rolls, takeovers, and bumpers. Lower-third Lower-third ads overlie a horizontal section at the bottom of the video. Mid-roll Mid-roll ads playing during a designated time during video content viewing. Non-linear Video Ad Non-linear video ads run concurrently with the video content so that consumers see the ad while watching the video. Types of non-linear ads include overlays and companion ads. Overlay Overlay ads display over the video content. Post-roll Post-roll ads play after the video content finishes playing. Pre-roll Pre-roll ads play before the video content starts playing. Takeover Takeover ad units do just that; they overlie or “take over” the entire player window or hosting page. Telescope Telescope ads involve a “hot” area of a video that when clicked, send the user to another site or display greater detail on the advertised product.

As new ad formats emerge, you don’t want to be stranded first visible to the end user. In the case of video ads, additional with a broadband video management solution that can’t beacons can be sent throughout the playback of the ad to support them. Advertisers will benefit from customized and measure how much of the ad the end user watched. unique ad experiences, so be ready to respond by setting up a flexible media management framework that lets you Before you engage a campaign management vendor, be quickly adapt your video player to new demands. sure that you understand how they count impressions and are comfortable interpreting the results. You can learn HOW ADS ARE COUNTED about efforts to standardize impression counting from the Each time a consumer looks at a video ad, it counts as Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). an “impression.” Systems for measuring impressions are complicated and vary widely. Several methods for ad counting AD POLICIES are in use on the Internet today, some of which involve the use Video ad policies define when ads are allowed to play (pre- of “beacons.” A beacon is a request for a piece of content roll, mid-roll, between content clips, or post-roll), how often that is designated as a tracking asset (and often is never seen they’re played, from which source the ads are served, and by the end user) sent to the ad counter when ad content is to whom the ads are displayed.

THE VIDEO PLATFORM COMCASTTECHNOLOGYSOLUTIONS.COM | 800.844.1776 | © 2017 COMCAST TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS You set up ad policies in your video management system, the advertiser’s web landing page), completed play, time your ad server, or in a dedicated ad policy system. When a spent viewing, and percent complete. video is played, the player checks the policies and asks the ad server for an ad that meets the policy’s requirements. For example, you can set a frequency policy that, if a video AD VENDORS AND TECHNOLOGIES is under five minutes, the player let a second video run and AD NETWORKS then insert a pre-roll ad before the third video. For longer Advertisers go to an ad network and buy a set number videos, you can set a policy to pause the video at chapter of impressions, and publishers go to ad networks to fill points to insert a mid-roll video ad, or to display overlay their inventory. An ad network aggregates inventory from a ads throughout the video. large number of publishers, and then sells it to advertisers. Advertisers want to get their ads on as many sites as If you’re using more than one ad server or campaign possible as easily as possible, and an ad network spreads management system, policies can control which ad their ads across web. Both publishers and advertisers servers the player calls, and in what order. And if your benefit from not having to spend resources on establishing system collects demographic data for your audience, you many individual relationships with partners. can set policies on what types of ads to show, say, East Coast women from ages 35 to 50. For broadband video advertising, advertisers and publishers use ad networks that specialize in video ads. Video ad It’s important to set ad policies which maximize revenue networks facilitate third-party ad serving by taking video without fatiguing your audience and causing viewers to ads and translating them into code that the publisher’s leave the stream before the end of the content. online player understands, a much more involved process than simply populating a space on a web site with a static METADATA display ad. Effective advertising is relevant, compelling, and non-intrusive to the audience. Your best campaign starts with data, so Most video ad networks charge for ads based on CPM, think about your advertising goals when you manage your but there are also pricing models that are based on CPA video content so as to prepare more useful data for your (the advertiser pays on cost per action, e.g., when a target advertising partners and technologies. They’ll have more clicks on something specific or registers) and CPC (the to work with if you tag your video with metadata that they advertiser pays for every ad click). can use to improve the matching of ads to your content. AD SERVERS If the metadata you add for your advertising is packaged Video ad servers are technologies that handle policy together with your video and all other metadata, then management, including those for ad type or format, frequency, when a consumer plays your video, the player gathers the and targeting. They often offer reporting features so you can metadata, passes it back to the video player, which hands get data on impressions, clicks, and other user activity. it to the campaign management system as targeting data to help it select the most appropriate ad. Ad servers give the publisher code to add to their player that tells a user’s browser to call the ad server for an ad. Categories like sports or news, titles, and short- or long- Then the ad server delivers ads that meet advertisers’ form are common ad tags that the ad server uses. Your criteria, which can include format, which ad to show, and video management system shouldn’t limit the metadata when to show it. Criteria can also include audience age, you can create, and it should be easy to generate the data gender, geographic location, etc. you and your advertising experts require to make decisions on ad placement to create the most valuable campaigns. Many publishers use multiple video ad servers. Usually an initial video ad request is made through a primary ad Typical impression measurements include initial view, video server, and then the player or the primary server redirects click through (when the user clicks an ad and is taken to to a secondary server.

THE VIDEO PLATFORM COMCASTTECHNOLOGYSOLUTIONS.COM | 800.844.1776 | © 2017 COMCAST TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS Video ad serving is different from display ad serving in that video ads are placed directly where the viewer is looking at content, and therefore the ads can be more intrusive. Therefore, it’s important that an ad server be capable of functions such as setting the interval length of ad display (frequency capping) and showing the most relevant ad to the viewer (targeting).

In addition, display ads are often static, while video ads have an attribute of time. A video ad server must be able to delay impression tracking until after the video has finished buffering.

Ad campaign managers Video ad server vendors often also offer campaign management technologies, a collection of services that help advertisers traffic and deliver ads, and analyze the results to appraise campaign performance. The goal of these services is to deliver the data that helps advertisers decide which ads and placements lead to the highest conversion rates. They can help advertisers improve their response rate, targeting advertising to ensure the right ads get pulled for the right audience and to encourage the greatest amount of interaction.

A campaign management system uses video content’s metadata to improve content/ad relevancy. When a view plays a video, the metadata is sent to the campaign management system, which has tagged ads with data that (in the best-case scenario) maps to video metadata for the most appropriate ad...

AD EXCHANGES An ad exchange is an auction marketplace where ad networks can purchase ads and inventory, and publishers can purchase ads. They benefit publisher by offering the opportunity to unload excess inventory at a higher price. Using ad exchange technologies, publishers can designate a minimum bid value on inventory specify what kinds of ads and formats they’ll accept. On the other side, advertisers are bidding on inventory they want to buy. Inventory is sold based on the highest bid.

Currently, there are only a few video ad exchange vendors, including Google AdSense for Video and adap.tv marketplace.

ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS Here are some common advertising issues that online publishers want to solve, and the vendors types who can address them.

THE VIDEO PLATFORM COMCASTTECHNOLOGYSOLUTIONS.COM | 800.844.1776 | © 2017 COMCAST TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PUBLISHER’S ISSUES AND NEEDS SOLUTION PROVIDER TYPE WHAT THEY DO Improve your advertising response rate, Ad campaign management A campaign management system can use your ensure the right ads get pulled for your content’s metadata to improve content/ad relevancy by audience, and encourage the greatest using ad tags, and contextual targeting amount of interaction. Dynamically incorporate ads into your Ad campaign management, or Ad campaign management systems can streamline creative media. video management system policy workflows and support on-the-fly ad buys. You can also create policies in your video management system to incorporate ads when and where you want them. Obtain reports to audit campaign Ad campaign management Ad campaign management systems have reporting effectiveness. tools that show you what inventory you sold, who’s ad was placed there and what format it was, and other data to help you evaluate the return on your inventory. Gain a higher CPM. Ad exchange An ad exchange gives publishers access to new technologies and increases competition and demand for their inventory, driving up CPMs. In addition, ad exchanges can often provide dynamic allocation, which makes the system retrieve an ad with a higher-priced CPM before it retrieves an ad bid at a lower CPM. Increase the yield of your inventory. Ad exchange, Ad campaign Yield management” technologies maximize returns for ad management space sold across multiple networks by allocating ad space based on which ad network that pays the highest price. Keep your inventory space filled. Ad network An ad network can sell the same web page ad space to many advertisers and then rotate those ads. Ad networks have established relationships with many others so that if a network has an inventory to sell, but doesn’t have an advertiser for it, the network can sell that space to another network. Similarly, in the reverse case, if a network has an opportunity to sell an ad, but doesn’t have the inventory to fulfill the sale, it can buy the inventory from another network. You have a small or no internal inventory Ad network Ad networks sell their ad inventory to publishers for you. sales team. Obtain ads that are relevant to your Ad server Ad servers can control policies for demographic targets, audience. keyword matching, and other data to make sure you get the most relevant ad paired with your content. Obtain ads that are proven to have a good Ad server To qualify available ads, ad servers can rank ads by the track record. filtering on the current bid amount, historical earnings, and more. Get as many ads as possible into a single Ad server An ad server can do the work of rotating many ads inventory space. through a single inventory space according to the number of impression each advertiser paid for. Your advertiser has multiple ads they want Ad server Using frequency capping, an ad server can rotate ads to run in the same space. based on the number of times you want each differently designed ad to appear.

THE VIDEO PLATFORM COMCASTTECHNOLOGYSOLUTIONS.COM | 800.844.1776 | © 2017 COMCAST TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS ADVERTISING SOLUTION PROVIDERS Some vendors provide more than one technology solution. Do some research before selecting a vendor to ensure that you’re getting the solutions you need.

AD AD AD CAMPAIGN AD NETWORK SERVER MANAGEMENT EXCHANGE

24/7 Real Media 24/7 Real Media’s services drive traffic to your site, analyze and segment your audience, and deliver compelling advertising X X packages.

adapt.tv adap.tv has developed a contextual advertising tool that can handle multiple ad sources and networks across all ad inventory X X to deliver relevant ads to consumers.

ADTECH ADTECH’s integrated ad serving solutions enable web publishers, ad networks, agencies and advertisers to manage, serve and X report on their online advertising campaigns.

Atlas The Atlas Publisher Suite includes a collection of software and services that help you manage and serve your premium ad X inventory, monetize your discretionary inventory more effectively, traffic your ads, and sell to advertisers more easily.

Auditude Auditude’s platform enables ad targeting, inventory sharing, blind selling, multiple pricing models, geo-targeting, availability windows and real-time reporting to facilitate a flexible partnership between X X content owners and publishers. They help manage complex business rules to maximize revenue from video on your site.

BlackArrow BlackArrow’s campaign management, decisioning, trafficking and reporting system is designed specifically for video content distributed over any on-demand platform — enabling content X providers and distributors to maximize advertising revenues, and improving advertisers’ ability to reach target audiences.

DoubleClick Ad Exchange DoubleClick Ad Exchange connects industry-leading online X publishers with top-tier advertisers, agencies and networks.

DoubleClick DART for Publishers DoubleClick’s DART for Publishers is a comprehensive hosted ad serving platform with advanced targeting capabilities, the ability to traffic a variety of rich media campaigns with ease, and tools X for workflow, forecasting, and reporting. DoubleClick In-Stream provides in-stream inventory forecasts, and helps you integrate rich media ad effects.

EyeWonder Eyewonder’s in-page, in-stream and custom ad products can combine Flash video, the latest creative features, and X comprehensive online tracking and reporting capabilities to enhance campaign impact and effectiveness.

FreeWheel Freewheel helps content owners manage syndicated video ad X X sales rights, serve ads, and analyze performance.

Google Ad Manager Google Ad Manager is a hosted ad management solution that can help you sell, schedule, deliver, and measure all of your directly-sold and network-based inventory.

Google AdSense for Video Google AdSense for Video offers a customized solution for your Flash video player, with in-video ads complemented by contextually targeted text overlays drawn from the world’s largest advertiser X network. The ads are non-intrusive and sit in the bottom portion of the viewing area. With Google AFV, you can also earn revenue when users embed your videos across the web.

Lightningcast Lightningcast provides targeted ad insertion and inventory manage- X X ment, auditing tools for audience measurement and analytics.

LiveRail LiveRail Ad Server helps publishers and advertisers manage, target, display, and track advertising in online video. LiveRail Ad Server’s tools maximize the potential of the video medium, freeing X X you from the constraints and complexities of managing ads on older ad-platforms.

Panache With Panache’s product suite, content owners can keep up with emerging video advertising standards and formats and deliver X enhanced creative experiences that are quickly deployed without involving precious engineering resources.

ScanScout ScanScout partners with major advertisers and publishers to maximize video advertising opportunities, and helps publishers X extract the most value out of their video content and monetize it in a user-friendly manner.

SpotXchange SpotXchange is a hosted ad management platform that provides targeted ad insertion and scheduling, and campaign X management and reporting in an auction-based exchange for streaming video spots.

Tremor Media Tremor Media helps businesses grow their business through online video and rich media banner advertising. They provide a full suite of X X tools and services for our publishers to manage and monetize their video assets to create new, effective, high value revenue channels.

YuMe YuMe is a dedicated video advertising network and provider of the ACE video ad management platform. YuMe connects brands X with consumers via video advertising and offers publishers unique solutions that maximize the value of their video inventory.

THE VIDEO PLATFORM COMCASTTECHNOLOGYSOLUTIONS.COM | 800.844.1776 | © 2017 COMCAST TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS GETTING THE MOST FROM MPX ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS ADVERTISING mpx video management tools and Player Development Kit Use the right ad vendors and video management technologies (PDK) are the management and presentation foundation to make the most of your content and inventory. on which you can build a successful advertising initiative through integration with complementary systems. Because you can use the PDK to create new experiences, proprietary OPEN TECHNOLOGIES ads, and integrate new technologies, our player doesn’t limit There are many systems and teams involved in a successful the interactive capabilities of ads you want to implement. broadband video advertising campaign. Content owners The PDK has you covered. use a media management system and broadband players, and may enlist an ad network or campaign management We integrate with advertising technologies specifically system, which will have its own technologies. developed to manage video ad campaigns and to provide ad insertion, performance audits, and more. No If you’ve already invested in a campaign management matter who provides the advertising in your business system, you don’t want to select a media publishing relationships—your own sales team, the syndication solution that makes you start from scratch with new outlet, or an advertising network—mpx can communicate ad services, different technologies, and another with their technologies to help you keep up with emerging set of business relationships to manage. Opt for video advertising standards and create the experiences “open” technologies—web services and application your advertisers want. programming interfaces (APIs) –that Systems such as Comcast Technology Solutions’ (CTS) can provide a The services and vendors you use for your advertising thorough and efficient way of managing, publishing, and plan will depend on your business model, but whatever generating revenue from your media now and in the complementary technologies you use, our integrations future. Our system can quickly adapt to the campaign with partner tools give you a full broadband video solution, management system of your choice—such as Freewheel from video upload to reporting data you need to make or Auditude—allowing you to integrate interoperable and decisions about your business. emerging technologies and gain a competitive advantage in the broadband video market. SUMMARY REPORTING Whatever technologies you choose for your online video For most media companies, broadband video advertising advertising, Comcast Technology Solutions’ flexible is a relatively new practice. Vendors providing reports services will work with your systems to meet your should give you data and tools for optimizing your needs. With our multitude of ad system integrations, and advertising policies over time. By tracking the number of through a combination of web services, and application video plays, the average video abandonment points, and programming interfaces (APIs), broadband video overall quality of service, you may discover insights that businesses can take advantage of interoperable services lead to improved video monetization. that meet their requirements. Contact us, and we can start helping you pursue your broadband video management and advertising goals. Learn more at www.comcasttechnologysolutions.com, or call our sales team at +1 206.436.7900.

ad avail A piece of inventory which has not yet been sold ad fill rate The percentage of ad avails fififi lled by actual, paid advertising ad format mix A combination of ad formats that works best for a site ad pattern A policy that defi nes when ads are allowed to play ad pod A self-contained, immersive online ad experience ad tags Pieces of code hosted by the publisher that are used to launch ads through ad servers click through When the user clicks an ad in a player and is taken to the advertiser’s web landing page conversions When a viewer takes the desired action, such as a purchase or a subscription conversion rate The number of viewers who perform an action after clicking divided by the total number of clicks CPA Cost per action; the total cost of an ad campaign divided by the number of conversions CPC Cost per click; what advertisers are charged for every click sent to their web site CPM The cost per 1000 viewers for a given advertising space eCPM A calculation of total earnings divided by total CPM fill rate The percentage of ad requests that are fififi lled with ads frequency capping Controlling the number of times a viewer is shown within a certain period impression Viewing of an ad by an audience member inventory The number of ad spaces—or impressions—that a that a publisher has to sell metadata Data or properties of media (title, author, description, and other fifi elds); Adding metadata is often called “tagging” the media, and the individual pieces of information are called “metatags”

policy manager A system for defifi ning ad patterns run of network Ad ad buy that runs on an entire ad network instead of being targeted to specififi c sites yield management Getting the most out of ad space sold across multiple networks by allocating ad space based on which ad network that pays the highest price.

target The number of ad spaces—or impressions—that a that a publisher has to sell targeting Data or properties of media (title, author, description, and other fifi elds); Adding metadata is often called “tagging” the media, and the individual pieces of information are called “metatags”