This section is not for video publishers or CTV/OTT platforms as video monetization is not a problem for them. This is for publishers who want to have a share of the video advertising pie.
So, the honest answer to this is – you can, but with caveats!
Generally, most of the video demand out on exchanges is in-stream and is for publishers who have video content. While In-stream is a premium inventory where advertisers pay a premium to display their ads, out- stream CPMs are generally lower. They are priced almost 40% lower than instream. With IAB, Google & other SSP classifying out-stream as inventory type, budgets from agencies will shift to outstream as buyers have KPIs to meet and most of the time, in-stream isn’t enough or worth it. Some outstream companies like Teads deliver excellent results to buyers with their in-article outstream placement.
So, in today’s world, a publisher cannot overlook video monetization as it’s not a taboo or a bad UX, it’s how the world of advertising is evolving and publishers who miss this, will regret. Even now as we speak, Google Ad Exchange is running in-article & in-feed video on its publisher sites and paying them display rates. If the publishers start building their video monetization model, they could potentially see an uplift in their revenue.
However, to do that you need to be aware about certain caveats that come with outstream monetization:
- Ads should maintain an aspect ratio 4:3 or 16:9 for horizontal & 3:4, 4:5 & 9:16 for vertical videos.
- Ads cannot autoplay in BTF. They can autoplay when 50% of the player is visible on screen.
- Sticky player should start as in in-article placement first & then when the user scrolls down, can transition to a sticky player.
- Sticky player should have a close button that is visible on the screen.
- Per IAB – any muted or auto playing video is classified as an outstream one.
- In article Video ad placement should have maintain at least 256px in both dimensions.
- All other video ad placements should maintain at least 256px in width & 144px in height.
- Meta data & URL must be provided to describe the inventory for the exchange.
Conclusively, there are two models by which a publisher can grab some video dollars. Here are they:
In House Solutions
Instream
In this model, you as a publisher will have to create or get relevant licensed video content from a video library and integrate into a video player. For video monetization, always choose full stack video player solutions like Aniview, JW player or others that offer speed & reliability. This model takes time, but will give you long terms results for sure.
Outstream
In the model, you can run Google or SSP provided outstream formats like in-article or in-feed. While monetization from these ads will be low, you will have reliable outstream video serving on your website without the fear of policy violation. You can also experiment with running your own outstream players inside the content and use VAST/S2S integrations to pump in the demand.
Outsourced Solution
In-stream
If creating/licensing video content is too cost intensive, you can talk to AdTech companies like playwire, primis, avantis, adsolut and others out there who can provide you a player that can help you capture in-stream video budgets. These companies use a combination of their demand and their own video content which might not be relevant to your audience.
That content is just there as a filler. You can give these companies your vast tags and they will be happy to give your exchanges the last look. One thing to note here is – these companies use outstream placements and fill them with instream ads. This is a policy workaround which I’m sure will last for long, but since these companies thrive on these solutions, they will always find a way to get past the policy. So you cannot be always reliant on these solutions and only plug & pray!
Out-stream
There are companies like Teads which run high impact outstream formats at in-article position. These can be a good source of revenue as this is compliant with policy and advertisers love it too. These types of formats run direct/pmp demand and fill around 10-15% of your inventory.