.Fox's Purchase of UK’s Online Video Advertising Network uTarget underscores the rise of online video advertising. Punto Fox (.Fox) will now be able to install online video technology (including 15-second clickable pre-rolls, contextual videos and persistent in-page videos as well as video pop-unders and interstitials) in its publisher network in the U.S. Hispanic Market and Latin America.
“uTarget has added a video advertising dimension to .Fox Networks . It enhances not only the portfolio of current products offered by .Fox Networks, but also creates today’s most attractive advertising video combination: TV + online," says Hector Costa, Senior VP, Managing Director of .FOX.
Fox’s current TV advertisers can now expand their reach by using .Fox Networks’ video products,” adds Rafael Hernandez, Director of U.S. Hispanic Online Sales .
Growth
Punto Fox's Hernandez and Costa say that the Hispanic and Latin American online video advertising markets are growing at a high rate. “We can see the growth not only in the inventory availability of our network, but also on the increase of advertiser request for this type of media. Other markets can attest to this growth, according to JupiterResearch, the percentage of UK Internet users watching online video leaped from 8% in 2006 to almost 30% in 2007," says Costa.
There are no concise figures about the size of the Hispanic and Latin American online video advertising markets. “We know it is big, but there is not one research entity yet that can show us the real number. Viral videos are still difficult to be track, and we still depend on publisher data.”
Different Types of Online Video Advertising
There are different types of online video advertisements: video pre-rolls, contextual videos, video pop-under or BPUs (browser pop-under), and interstitials. According to the Punto Fox executives: “the online Hispanic market is interacting heavily with this type of media, which is why many publishers are rolling their text content into video. For example, www.CNN.com and their recent website redesign allows the user to watch breaking news videos or read the news content real time.” How is online video advertising priced? Costa and Hernandez note “We are not there yet to set a standard price for these units. The best answer is how much an advertiser will pay for good 'analytics' that show them what is working and what is not working.”
The Challenge
The ultimate challenge, and goal, is to engage users via online video advertising. “The focus should be to make ads within online video more engaging to the end-user otherwise ads will be ignored and money wasted. Making ads more personalized (based on the user’s interest, viewing history, etc.) is a good first step,” Hernandez concludes.