How to maximize ad revenue with VPAID 2.0 interactive ads

$9.14 billion. This is the estimated spending on online video advertising  in the US alone and the trend for the coming years is certainly increasing. Online video content is attracting more and more mobile views each day. For publishers and advertisers, it becomes more important than ever to understand how to exploit this trend in order to maximize ad revenue on mobile and desktop. Furthermore, it allows to provide a smooth ad experience for their viewers. We will show you how to use VPAID 2.0 to reach these goals and what other benefits it holds for you.

So what is VPAID?

VPAID is a standard established by the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) which stands for Video Player Ad-Serving Interface Definition. It is designed to allow interactive and dynamic communication between video players and ad units (i.e. they are executable). This includes a wide range of events to are reported between the player and the ad unit.

A basic conversation between player and ad could look like this:

Player: I am ready, let’s get started!

Ad: Alright, I am going to load my ad content and play it for 20 seconds.

Player: Ok, let me know when you are done.

Ad: Finished!

Player: Alright, I have to remove you now to play my own content. We’ll stay in touch!

Ads and player interact dynamically, so they stay in touch during the entire playback to ensure smooth playing and smooth reactions when events occur (e.g. pause or volume changes). Based on all these interactions, you can easily measure video performance and track user engagement. Take a moment if you want to visit our Advertisement tester web page and our Demo online ad formats web page.

And what about VPAID 2.0?

VPAID2.0 has a native JavaScript implementation which provides a straightforward way for our HTML5 player and JavaScript ad units to interact. In this way, viewers can choose if and how they want to interact or choose to get additional information about the product being advertised. They can skip, pause and play ads easily with buttons that are inherent to the ad being played.

Another important aspect about VPAID 2.0 is that it can play in HTML5 and does not require any support for Flash. Because of this, your ads can reach more users on HTML5 browsers and now also on mobile. This is particularly interesting with the rise of mobile devices and the descending support for Flash in web browsers. This makes it very easy for all advertisers and publishers to increase their mobile ad revenue as well as on desktop.

Last but not least, the 2.0 version of the ad standard also supports a better and more in-depth integration with VAST. A VPAID ad can be embedded in your standard VAST XML file. This allows advertisers to keep the power of VAST (e.g. event tracking) and infuse it with VPAID's interactive capabilities, ensure a smooth, interactive ad experience for viewers.

Let’s put theory into practice and check out interactive ads in action

Here you can check out VPAID 2.0 ads with THEOplayer. Engage your viewers and let them tailor their own ad experience with:

• Clickable, interactive overlays and banners
• Skippable Pre-Rolls  and Smooth Post-Rolls
• Ads that reflect your viewer's preferences
• Seamless ads on mobile and desktop in HTML5

How do publishers and advertisers benefit?

• Deliver seamless video ad experience to viewers which easily monetizes your content
• Create an interactive video advertising for viewers
• 2.0 version is not dependent on Flash, allowing publishers and advertisers to reach viewers on mobile and flash-disabled browsers with HTML5
• Easily boost mobile ad revenue as well as on desktop
• Track and report back individual ad performance to improve audience engagement and to increase level of interaction
• VPAID 2.0 offers a more sophisticated and customizable integration with VAST
• Autoplay functionality: no initial viewer interaction required