According to the Wall Street Journal, online video advertisers have spent the past year searching for the Holy Grail of online advertising: ads that do not annoy consumers and still yields high ad revenue. Experimentation with online video has been intense to find a replacement for the preroll, the ad leader that plays before a video. Users have grown disenchanted with the online video preroll, especially with the popularity of YouTube that allows users to see the video without the preroll. Although advertisers liked the prerolls and Web publishers loved the high prices, they are now forced to find a less annoying and more affective means of advertising on online video. Graphics that slide over the bottom of the online video screen are becoming a better solution and less intrusive. Other methods include adding player skins, or ad graphics, around the video screen for excellent branding opportunities. Some publishers are still using the preroll but are limiting the segment to five seconds and often using a count down timer to let the user know the ad length. Interesting new developments with online video; what will be next?
