TodSacerdoti.com

I was forwarded a TechCrunch article today on the launch of a new video ad network called PreRollr. Upon receipt, I was instantely turned off by:

1. The overused Web 2.0 use of the missing “e” – i.e., Flickr, Socializr and, now, PreRollr.
2. The fact that our company (the leading video ad network), BrightRoll, is the owner and user of the correctly spelled domain, Preroller.com and that we have had live products in the market under the brands PostRoller and PreRoller for some time
3. That the ad unit is monetizing content that the publisher doesn’t own (namely content from YouTube, DailyMotion, etc.)
4. The reality that TechCrunch continues to cover the launch of any product, regardless of user, customer or revenue traction

That said, the Prerollr product does bring up (again) the issue of ad units and highlights the fact that publishers, particularly smaller publishers, have yet to find highly scalable, revenue generating ad units surrounding video. I am not a believer that an aggressive pre-roll CPC ad unit, such as the PreRollr, will be adopted by users in high volume. Outside of pop-unders, you don’t see many CPC ads overlaid over text and image content, so why would you see it in video?

So what ad units will succeed? My bet is that it will be a lot more like the scalable ad units we have seen be successful throughout the rest of the web. Standards and scalability are essential - the units must be support by both the advertiser and publisher communities.