Dive Brief:
- AOL joins other platforms including YouTube in introducing new features for video advertisers that allow for skipping over ads.
- The new interactive video advertising elements are geared for pre-roll ads, such as “branded” ads.
- In other AOL news, the platform's CMO has also launched an in-house custom content division named Partner Studio by AOL.
Dive Insight:
Going along with the trend of expanding video features at Facebook and YouTube, AOL announced the addition of interactive elements for its video ads, with an emphasis on pre-roll advertisements. AOL rolled out several key new features including, the “branded skip” that allows users to skip an ad by viewing a polling or branding feature, a “linear expandable” feature that adds a clickable in-video banner leading to a microsite, and “linear modules” that add interactive icons to the pre-roll ads.
David Miller, vice president of ad product management for AOL, said he was most excited about the branded skip feature, explaining, “What we’re trying to do is to make sure that some level of conversation is happening between the advertiser and the viewer. A lot of skippable ads out there right now offer no branding or conversation opportunity by the time the consumer chooses to skip.”
AOL has also created an in-house custom content division under new CMO Allie Kline named Partner Studio by AOL. The new group combines data, distribution and content to help AOL advertisers with branded content programs. Kline said AOL’s core was a balance of code and culture, and she wanted to bring that same combination to advertisers’ content marketing efforts.
