AOL reveals BrandBuilder to attract more ad spend (VZ)

BI Intelligence

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Late last week at CES in Las Vegas, AOL unveiled two new ad formats in hopes of driving brands awareness and increased sales.

The new systems will fall under the umbrella name BrandBuilder, which will support the framework needed to create ads across display, video, and mobile devices.

Below is a brief description of AOL’s new ad experiences:

• DataPerks: In what is strictly a mobile-based ad format, AOL uses parent company Verizon to incentivize customers with a reward system that includes additional wireless plan data if they click and complete some form of engagement with an ad, such as taking a survey, downloading a coupon, or entering an email address. DataPerks will be available sometime during Q1 in the US for Verizon subscribers.
• Player Up: Instead of traditional 15-second video pre-roll ads, Player Up utilizes a combination of mini ad formats throughout a given video. The creative can be displayed as a three to seven second ad that introduces the brand’s product or service, an overlay that sits at the bottom corner of the video, and/or be displayed once someone hits the pause button. Player Up is currently available in the US, UK, and Canada, and has already been implemented by EBay last year. By minimizing the pre-load ad time, and implemented creative that doesn’t directly impede on the viewing experience, Player Up combats the top reasons — intrusive and disruptive — consumers block ads, according to Hubspot.

While continued innovation in the ad space will be key for all digital media players moving forward, it will be especially vital for AOL parent company Verizon, as it looks to become a potential third player in a digital ad world that has been dominated by Google and Facebook – which control roughly two-thirds of total digital ad revenues. However, with initiatives like BrandBuilder, the pending acquisition of Yahoo, and the acquisition of virtual reality and immersive storytelling company RYOT, Verizon continues to establish itself on a path of increased market share.

Programmatic advertising is set to surge in the coming years, and digital ad stakeholders will have to work hard to moderate the negatives side effects that come with an increased number of automated ad placements.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on programmatic advertising that sizes up this market.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Advertisers and publishers are rapidly adopting programmatic ad-buying and selling tools. More than four-fifths of agencies and brands already purchase display ads programmatically, while an even greater proportion of publishers are pursuing programmatic channels as part of their sales strategies, according to surveys and our own conversations with industry participants.
• Spending on programmatic advertising is growing quickly, at ~20% annually.
• Real-time bidding is growing even faster than programmatic overall, at a five-year CAGR of 24%. RTB revenue will top over $26 billion by year-end 2020, up from $8.7 billion this year. Mobile RTB and video RTB are growing even faster, at roughly 2X the rate of programmatic overall. (The report has the full growth breakdowns.)
• Media-agency programmatic "trading desks" are being decentralized as programmatic expertise begins to permeate the agency and brand ecosystem. This may speed growth in programmatic spending among agency clients.
• The ballyhooed fusion of native and programmatic advertising may be one step closer, thanks in part to OpenRTB 2.3, a new specification from the IAB that makes automated trading of native advertisements technically feasible. Such efforts could bring scale to native advertising and help unlock brand spend.
• Pricing is following two divergent trends: for premium- and guaranteed placements they are on the upswing, while prices continue to plummet for miscellaneous inventory.

In full, the report:

• Forecasts programmatic and RTB spending by format through 2020.
• Looks at the latest programmatic adoption trends among both publishers and advertisers.
• Explores the emerging trend of "decentralizing" agency-trading desks and native programmatic.
• Outlines the latest news and trends affecting top programmatic-focused companies.
• Analyzes how programmatic and programmatic-premium is impacting digital ad prices.

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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of native advertising.