SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - March 25, 2015 - Virool, the fastest growing video advertising platform for marketers, today announced the launch of InLine, a new video ad unit for desktop and mobile that establishes a new standard for viewability. Launching today at the Digiday Publishing Summit in Vail, CO, the new InLine unit is already being used by premium publisher partners including AdWeek, Yahoo Sports and Disqus. The company also announced that it has selected Rubicon Project to offer programmatic buying and selling, as well as direct order automation, for the InLine video units.
For the first time ever, advertisers and publishers are able to buy and sell into a premium, user-initiated, out-stream video format across platforms, including iOS mobile web. This marks the first time in the history of mobile web that an in-article unit of its kind is iOS compatible. InLine now gives publishers the opportunity to monetize mobile traffic from iOS devices, and advertisers the ability to reach this audience via mobile web.
“InLine solves the riddle of video inventory on mobile web. With InLine, publishers are guaranteed best-in-class, VAST-compatible, desktop and mobile capabilities in one unified solution. We’re excited to support partners on both the supply and demand side with this exciting new ad format.” -- Sonja Kristiansen, Publisher Development at Virool.
InLine for Publishers
InLine solves the problem of scarcity in premium video inventory by creating a format that embeds video natively within editorial content. With the InLine unit, publishers can dynamically embed advertiser video messages into related editorial content on desktop and mobile web. The benefits of InLine for publishers include:
• New inventory: Creates limitless video inventory without displacing standard ad units
• Direct sales enablement: Empowers publisher sales teams to monetize video beyond the current inventory on-site, commanding high CPMs
• Additional demand: Publishers can tap into Virool’s 60,000+ first-party video campaigns to provide fill for the unit
• Unobtrusive user experience: Launches when the area is viewable, plays sound only upon mouse hover and dissolves back into the page upon completion.
Becca Cohen, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Yahoo! Sports ThePostGame said, "ThePostGame is all about a great user experience, but at the same time serving the best interests of our advertising partners. Virool's InLine unit has really helped us because we now have incremental viewable video inventory. This is effective for what our partners need, and because the experience is seamless, users benefit from it, too."
InLine for Advertisers
Designed to provide a seamless in-content experience, the new InLine unit from Virool promises guaranteed viewability without disrupting the reader’s experience. The unit launches only when the video area is viewable, plays sound when the user hovers over the unit, and dissolves back into the page upon completion. The benefits of InLine for advertisers include:
• Premium placements: Embeds a video in the heart of premium editorial content to draw maximum user attention and ensure brand safety
• Ensured viewability: Designed to play the video only when in-view, InLine pauses if the user scrolls away and continues only when back in-view.
• Large player size: Maximize impact by placing a video inside a large-format player (up to 640x400)
• Superior performance: Drive engagement metrics beyond impressions with strong completion rates and average 2% click-through-rate
Annette Warring, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Canada said, "More than ever before consumers are demanding contextually relevant content. More importantly, they want to be in control of initiating that content. The new InLine Unit sets a new standard for viewability and puts video within premium editorial content in an area otherwise inaccessible to advertisers. Effective native advertising is the future and this is a win for both advertisers and their consumers."
For more information on the new InLine unit from Virool, go to: http://www.virool.com/inline
To celebrate the launch of the InLine unit, Virool and Rubicon Project will be hosting a private event at the Digiday Publishing Summit on Wednesday, March 25th from 8:30 PM – 12 AM.
