BlueLithium launched AdRoll, a video streaming ad network with behavioral targeting capabilities for in-stream or in-banner placements.
Advertisers can target previous visitors of Web sites as they travel across other sites in the BlueLithium network of 1,000 publishers. Behavioral targeting was shown to improve clickthrough and conversion rates by more than 300 percent, according to BlueLithium, San Jose, CA.
“The advertisers we’ve been talking to have found that it’s challenging to secure large amounts of streaming video without having to go through a number of providers,” said Dakota Sullivan, chief marketing officer of BlueLithium. “I think there’s a scarcity of video in general. It’s a scattered market right now. Advertisers are negotiating on a publisher-by-publisher basis.”
Data from JupiterResearch shows that video and broadband ad budgets are increasing. The New York-based market researcher predicted more than a 25 percent increase in streaming video spending, from $344 million this year to $440 million in 2007. It put total broadband ad spending at $3.8 billion by 2010.
“When we launched the ad network, one thing that we set out to do was to look at the needs of advertisers, look at the needs of service providers, see what other ad networks were offering and see what we could do differently to mediate between them better,” Mr. Sullivan said.
BlueLithium’s properties reach 100 million unique users each month, or 51 percent of U.S. users online. It delivers 6 billion impressions per month across more than 1,000 publisher sites.
In April, BlueLithium launched AdPath, a behavioral targeting tool that provides audience targeting and remarketing capabilities to advertisers and extra sale options to previous site visitors throughout the BlueLithium network to publishers.
With the technology behind BlueLithium’s latest offering, advertisers can refine the focus of their video campaigns. The service has two options: in-stream video, where ad content appears in a 15-second stream pre- or post-roll of the video or in-banner video, which turns standard leader boards or skyscrapers into streaming video ads.
BlueLithium creates campaign reports to access when ads have been shown and how often they are viewed.
“The market for broadband video is growing,” Mr. Sullivan said. “If we are able to get a meaningful percentage of this, then the product will be successful.”
O ne challenge will be raising awareness.
“Advertisers are aware of behavioral targeting but this is the first time that it will be available for video,” Mr. Sullivan said.
BlueLithium plans to continue to explore other capabilities with video through its BL Labs division.
“An increasing number of advertisers are using networks because they can optimize their campaign and they are able to make large-scale purchases,” Mr. Sullivan said. “It’s our job to transfer those benefits to the video market.”
