Seems like everywhere you turn lately, it’s all about video. But before you rush out and jump feet first into online video advertising:


Pre-roll is the perfect example of why online video advertising should be viewed in a different light than its television counterpart. Pre-roll delivers a passive experience, flowing against the tide of interactivity and engagement. When the very nature of the medium pulls users forward, why force them to sit back and simply watch? Relegating video to a linear format, in a non-linear medium, results in missing a big opportunity to draw consumers in.


Rather, cater to users’ habits by providing them with online video ads that can be controlled or driven by them. With a little innovation and creative implementation, the experience can shift from sit back and watch to get up and go. Advertisers such as FedEx, Circuit City, Hasbro and Lucas Films have done an excellent job at creating interactive video environments that engage users and fully leverage how they use the medium.


Break out of the box, literally! Green screen capabilities mean that video no longer has to be confined to the familiar square shape viewers have always known. Additionally, as video search capabilities expand, there is a tremendous opportunity to serve up contextually relevant video ads. Coupled with geo-targeting and dynamic data functionality, advertisers can create videos that are equally as powerful as any rich media ad. So what are you waiting for? Shake off your preconceived notions of video and fast forward its untapped potential online!

PointRoll recently announced a two-year strategic partnership with leading portal AOL. The deal encourages the collaborative development of cutting-edge rich media formats to provide AOL’s extensive list of advertisers with the most effective online advertising solutions available. AOL is now PointRoll’s preferred portal partner and will have exclusive rights to debut PointRoll’s new products on the AOL portal and AOL properties.

One of the most exciting opportunities to emerge from this partnership is that the AOL Welcome Screen and AOL portal homepage are now accepting PointRoll for standard and custom opportunities. To deliver the most high-impact, high-reach message to this large audience, there’s no better way than with innovative and engaging rich media from PointRoll.

Additionally, as part of the agreement, Advertising.com, an AOL property, has sweetened their role as part of PointRoll’s Included Program. In addition to providing the industry’s first placement optimization solution— Advertising.com’s AdLearn system interprets PointRoll interaction rate data to determine which placements are performing best for an advertisement and then optimizes the placements accordingly—Advertising.com has now lowered their floor to a $3.50 CPM to run PointRoll rich media at no additional charge to the advertiser.