ValueClick Launches Video Network

iMedia:

By Dawn Anfuso

ValueClick today is introducing a combination in-stream and in-banner solution for advertisers and publishers. The beta program will enable advertisers to insert a video, rich-media or static banner ad before or after video content.

"A lot of folks are trying to figure out what to do [in regard to advertising in and around video.] This enables them to take what assets they have, even if they don't have video yet, and experiment," says John Ardis, VP, digital marketing, ValueClick.

The video solution -- essentially another ad unit option -- integrates with the ad networks' other offerings, such as behavioral targeting, and is compatible with all online video players.

ValueClick boasts 13,000-plus sites in its network, plus a focus on performance, offering advertisers broad reach and "long-tail experimentation," says Ardis.

Advertisers can begin pulling the code for the in-video ads starting today. Over a hundred publishers have expressed interest in the offering, and dozens of advertisers have indicated they will take advantage of it. ValueClick estimates it will serve 100 million streams within the first month.

ValueClick plans to add enhancements, such as companion banners and international expansion, in the future.

eMarketer recently estimated that online video advertising will reach $2.35 billion by 2010. The industry is gearing up for this growth.

In November, DoubleClick released DART Motif for In-Stream, a publisher solution for measuring and managing video ad serving from any format, any player, and EyeWonder introduced a tool to enable interactive marketers to design, build, preview and test EyeWonder rich media and video ad units through a Macromedia Flash environment, simplifying the process.