Standards Reporting

This report by the IAB on digital video is worth a read. It certainly helps establish some key definitions and standards in this evolving industry.

The following definitions are particularly useful (especially note the definition of IPTV):

Average view time – refers to the average amount of time the video ad was played by users.

Brand Awareness – research studies can associate ad effectiveness to measure the impact of online advertis ing on key branding metrics.

Bug – is a persistent, graphical element that appears in the video environment. Clicking on it will take the user to a website.

Bumper Ad – usually refers to a linear video ad with clickable call-to-action; format is usually shorter than full linear ads (i.e. 3-10 seconds) and call-to-action usually can load another video or can bring up a new site while pausing the content.

Click-through – the action of following a hyperlink within an advertisement or editorial content to another Web site or another page or frame within the Web site.

Companion Ad – both Linear and Non-linear Video ad products have the option of pairing their core video ad product with what is commonly referred to as companion ads. Commonly text, display ads, rich media, or skins that wrap around the video experience, can run alongside either or both the video or ad content. The primary purpose of the Companion Ad product is to offer sustained visibility of the sponsor throughout the video content experience. Companion Ads may offer click-through interactivity and rich media experiences such as expansion of the ad for further engagement opportunities.

Completes – completes refer to whether the video played to completion.

Contextual Ads – existing contextual ad engines deliver text and image ads to non-video content pages. Ads are matched to keywords extracted from content. Advertisers can leverage existing keyword-based paid search campaigns and gain access to a larger audience. 3rd party publishers receive a share of the revenue collected from the advertisers.

Core ad video – the essential video asset, often repurposed from offl ine. Can be displayed directly in the player, or in a more customized presentation.

Event trackers – primarily used for click-through tracking today, but also for companion banner interactions and video session tracking (e.g. 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%)..

Full screen views – refers to the number of impressions where the video was played in full screen mode (where available)

Hot Spot – an ad unit that is sold within the video content experience. Mouse action over the video highlights objects that can be clicked. The click action initiates a Linear video commercial or takes the user to a website.

In-Banner Video Ads – leverage the banner space to deliver a video experience as opposed to another static or rich media format. The format relies on the existence of display ad inventory on the page for its delivery.

In-Page Video Ads – delivered most often as a stand alone video ad and do not generally have other content associated with them. This format is typically home page or channel based and depends on real estate within the page dedicated for the video player.

In-Stream Video Ads – played before, during or after the streaming video content that the consumer has requested. These ads cannot typically be stopped from being played (particularly with pre-roll). This format is frequently used to monetize the video content that the publisher is delivering. In-Stream ads can be played inside short or long form video and rely on video content for their delivery. There are four different types of video content where in-stream may play, UGC (User Generated Content/Video), Syndicated, Sourced and Journalistic.

In-Text Video Ads – delivered from highlighted words and phrases within the text of web content. The ads are user activated and delivered only when a user chooses to move their mouse over a relevant word or phrase.

Invitation unit – a smallish still or animated graphic often overlays directly onto video content. Typically used as a less-intrusive initial call-to-action. Normally when a viewer clicks or interacts with the invitation graphic, they expand into the ad’s full expression, which might be a simple auto-play video or an interactive experience.

IPTV – generally refers to video programming offered by telecom companies over copper wire. Often misused to refer to PC-based video.

Journalistic Video – content that was shot and used by the actual publisher. MSNBC journalist shooting a video and using the video for their own purposes.

Linear Video Ads – experienced In-Stream, which is presented before, between, or after the video content is consumed by the user. One of the key characteristics of Linear video ads is the ad takes over the full view of the video.

Metadata – business-critical data such as advertiser name, eCPM goal, format and version information.

Mid-roll – a Linear video spot that appears in the middle of the video content.

Non-linear Video Ads – an Non-linear Video ad product runs parallel to the video content so the user still has the option of viewing the content. Common Non-linear ad products include overlays which are shown directly over the content video itself, and product placements which are ads placed within the video content itself. Non-linear video ads can be delivered as text, graphical banners or buttons, or as video overlays.

Overlay ad – a banner ad that appears in the bottom 20% of the video window. Click action initiates a Linear video spot or takes the user to a website. Sold on a CPM and CPC basis.

Playlist – online video content can be broken down by content verticals such as news, music, tv shows, movies, sports, UGC, casual games, automotive, travel, business, b to b, careers, communities, technology, education, directories, government, non-profi t, family, health, real estate, personals, science, adult and gambling. There are hundreds of sub-content verticals under the aforementioned.

Post-roll – a Linear video spot that appears after the video content completes.

Pre-roll – a Linear video spot that appears before the video content plays.

Quartile reporting – refers to whether the video played to its 25% and 75% points.

Replays – refers to the number of times a user requested to see the video ad again (where available)

Rich media – advertisements with which users can interact (as opposed to solely animation) in a web-page format. They may appear in ad formats such as banners and buttons, as well as transitionals (interstitials) and various over-the-page units such as fl oating ads, page take-overs, and tear backs.

Sourced Video – content generated by a third party (typically professional) and will denote the source. An example may be a new car review provided by General Motors but hosted on CarTV.com.

Syndicated Video – content sourced from a professional third party, examples may include syndicated television shows, news footage from AP or Reuters, etc.

Sponsorship graphics – components that are displayed as very persistent graphics such as with a player surrounding skin. Sponsorship graphics are generally displayed throughout the entirety of the content play. Sometimes the sponsorship graphic remains interactive and will behave like an invitation unit allowing viewers to explore deeper ad units such as the embedded interactive.

User-Generated Video – content created by the public at large and directly loaded to a site like YouTube or MySpace

VOD – Video on Demand, usually refers to services offered by cable companies through set-top boxes.

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