One of the largest trends moulding advertising now is the quick growth of streaming video viewership. With a calculated 160 million US adults now accessing streaming video with assistance like Hulu and Roku, through appliances such as Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV — a new outlet known as OTT (over-the-top) advertising has occurred, enabling brands to attain their audiences quickly within their living spaces.
According to research, Netflix has abundant viewers in the United States and is expected to rise to over 183 million subscribers by 2024. The second-largest subscription video-on-demand platform is Amazon. Disney+, inaugurated at the end of 2019, is expected to have the third-highest number of subscribers as of 2024.
What is OTT Advertising?
The word over-the-top refers to the action used to stream digital content to a TV or comparable device. The community of devices generally classified as OTT include:
- Streaming boxes
- HDMI sticks
- Smart TV
- Game consoles
- DVR set-top boxes
- Internet-facilitated smart blu-ray/DVD players
OTT advertising is vastly like advertising on TV but transmitted through streaming media on OTT platforms. The technology is required to largely expand in the future months and to offer marketers the biggest of both worlds—the advantages of programmatic, and the evolving sweep of streaming services. With OTT ad income set to increase from 46% to 61% over the next decade, AdTech pioneers and early adopters of OTT advertising will earn its benefits shortly.
How Are OTT Ads Delivered?
Delivery of OTT ads expects thinking of how the streaming platform communicates with OTT devices—for instance, via Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) or Video Player-Ad Interface Definition (VPAID) tags—and the ad-insertion method, whether they will be assisted client-side (CSAI) or server-side (SSAI). The common delivery method of OTT ads is as follows:
- An audience is established: An OTT audience is established based on the platform’s subscription data, but in some circumstances, they could also be improved with extra household information. This can contain first- and third-party data—the users’ choice categories of shows or specific shows eyed on the platform.
- The topic is pushed: Audience matching advents. The platform will fit the audience to the particular TV’s subscriber lists on several OTT platforms. The ads are dragged, downloaded, and softened by the OTT devices.
- Ads are shown via OTT platforms: This is where, hanging on the platform, OTT devices are conveyed using VAST or VPAID labels.
- Reporting: The OTT operator sends back ad-exposure outcomes after the point and the platform produces the reports for the advertiser. Generally, the points are improved with the first- and third-party data.
OTT Ad-Insertion Techniques
CSAI: Client-side ad insertion (CSAI) is the legacy technique, whereby ads are compressed within the OTT box itself before they get shown to the viewer. This technique does not give a beneficial way for showing ads to viewers, and is accessible to ad blockers, but is presently the leading technique in OTT devices within the advertising enterprise.
SSAI: In server-side ad-insertion (SSAI) content delivery, the ads are assisted as a seamless stream. The procedure establishes, in real-time, a combination of ads and heart content streamed to the customer device frame-by-frame. Because ad blockers cannot distinguish which frames are ads and which are not, SSAI is a very beneficial solution for ad-blocking software.
SSAI enables a seamless video occasion even for live feeds. It “stitches” the content jointly with ads, thus excluding the difficult pauses between the real video and ads. If clickable ads or viewability distributions are desired (via the support of VPAID tags), those abilities can be enhanced after on the client side; still, this requires some extra development on the OTT producer’s end.
While maximum producers don’t evaluate those abilities as significant, specific OTT platforms work hard and try to provide their customers more measurement and interactivity with built-in assistance for VPAID tags.
Stitching, made apparent by VPAID tags, is a step ahead from a viewer’s perspective, but it also commits some regulations for the advertiser. Most popular ad technologies are still created upon client-side methodologies today.
Challenges and factors of OTT Advertising
As evidenced in the earlier passages, OTT advertising can give many advantages over traditional TV advertising. But, there are still various technological challenges to endure before OTT advertising can achieve grip for good:
- For presently, much of the smart TV and OTT inventory ready programmatically can only be accessed quickly, either from smart TV manufacturers or OTT service providers.
- Presently, there is no sanction for third-party ad serving and content.
- OTT advertising is still a very fragmented region, needing industry-wide standards and procedures.
- Maximum OTT devices need certain abilities compared to a web browser. This means there are no cookies and no flash support, which restricts an advertisers capacity to suitably target viewers and aspect conversions. Also, due to the secure nature of most OTT devices, digital ads and third-party tags from different platforms may be incompatible, leading to measurement disparities.
- VPAID is an extension of VAST. It was inaugurated to encourage rich ad experiences (interactive media ads, for example), and comprehensive analytics for video ads. Still, due to the partially insufficient character of OTT platforms, there is presently no possibility of executing executable ad units. Transmission between ad servers and the devices can only be established on VAST advertising tags, an arrangement developed by the IAB for the standardization of fulfilling video ads.
Conclusion
As the COVID-19 lockdown begins again, unique fiction content on television is in quick supply, and spectators have turned to video streaming platforms. Data from several market sources predict an improvement in the consumption of OTT platforms across the world. It is no surprise then that the number of advertisements deposited on these platforms has also improved exponentially month on month since March this year.
According to data released by media research firm TAM, ad insertions on OTT platforms made twice as much in April 2020 over March 2020. The research agent determines March 2020 as the pre-COVID-19 period and April 2020 as the COVID-19 period. The volume of insertions in March 2020 amounted to 15000, as compared to 32000 in the following month. February 2020 saw 12000 ad insertions on video streaming platforms. (The platforms contained are Eros Now, Zee5, Disney+Hotstar, MX Player, Sony Liv, YuppTV, VOOT, and Viu.)
Thus, there are still many challenges that continue to persist in this space which will further evolve into newer opportunities in the upcoming years
Finding the ideal OTT solution can be difficult at times, especially because there are so many top picks to consider.
VPlayed A Self-Hosted OTT Monetization Platform For Global AudiencesVPlayed’s OTT solution enables media broadcasters, television production houses, content owners, and others to develop a Whitelabel upgraded OTT video monetization platform that expands the reach of crystal-quality video content across many platforms with less effort.
They can send HQ video content to a variety of devices, including the Web, Android, and SmartTV.The multi-bitrate transcoding technology delivered by VPlayed via cutting-edge technology of HLS player aid in the creation of successful OTT video streams.
Some Of Its Features Are: VPlayed’s Whitelabel OTT solution allows you to create and personalize your own customized platformWith the built-in video CMS, you can upload and manage your entire archive Utilize a cloud transcoding streaming technology to compress OTT video filesWith a critical HLS video solution, you can distribute your best OTT works6+ revenue monetization models will triple your total streaming income Secure over-the-top streaming platform with Multi-DRM protocols that are certifiedPros:Services getting white-labeled completely helps you to own your creative content foreverSecure Multi-DRM protocol with standardization will protect every piece of contentAll are covered in a one-time license cost Every industry can harness the expertise of streamingEffortlessly migrate from one online video platform to anotherThe pluggable microservice architecture enables fast, cost-effective upgrades in any app Pricing:For quote-based plans, fill out this inquiry form.2.
KalturaAll-in-one OTT platform with a full range of streaming possibilitiesKaltura’s SaaS-based solutions let your organization fulfill flexible streaming needs in the form of live and on-demand videos to give video communication tools including virtual meetings, live webinars, motivating podcasts, and interactive town halls.
While it is appropriate for enterprise use, it is also appropriate for most creators and small SaaS businesses.Some Of Its Features: Get an OTT software that delivers engaging content and has the best CDN infrastructureList your OTT platform all over the world with a live and consistent VOD streaming serviceOTT platforms in the United States have license enforcement with copyrighted contentUse analytics data to study your target audience via customized OTT appsPros: Real-time polling and clickable video overlaysHD transcoding via a range of bandwidth connections with password security protocol and channel modificationYou also get a 30-day free trial with full functionality.Pricing: IBM Watson Media provides three pricing plans:Silver: $99 per monthGold: $499 per monthPlatinum: $999 per month4.
In previous articles, we have discussed the ‘opportunities live streaming events’ provide.While that was theoretical, we push forward the point with a case study – how UFC’s OTT app with the help of its ‘Fight Pass’ along with ‘Pay-Per-View’ made it the Gold standard in the space.What is UFC?Before we get into the details of the app, a quick explanation of what it is:The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is the largest promoter of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fights, with around 40 events each year, more than 500 fighters under contract and a growing international fan base.While UFC has seen success since the turn of the millennium, the first UFC event was held in 1993.Why is UFC’s ott app successful?UFC runs a ‘Fight Pass’ which is a digital streaming service that gives fans of UFC content 24/7, 365-days a year.
Here’s 5 key reasons why UFC is the current reigning sports OTT champion globally:ContentContent is the most important aspect of the success of your OTT channel.UFC’s OTT app keeps fans engaged by offering them footage that can’t be found anywhere else.
Even football’s governing body, FIFA, can’t compete with this.
The UFC app through its ‘Fight Pass’ gives users access to the Early Prelims from the biggest UFC Pay-Per-View cards along with over 200+ live events from promotions such as Invicta FC, GLORY Kickboxing, QUINTET (Team Submission Grappling), Eddie Bravo Invitational, Polaris, and many more.AvailabilityOnce the content is in, we have stated the importance of being available cross-platform.
UFC has this covered by being available across devices, including Laptops, Apple TV, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, iPad, iPhone, Android devices, Chromecast, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and LG Smart TV.
UFC’s ‘Fight Pass’ is available at US$ 9.99 per month or an annual package of US$ 95.99.
Changes and evolution in the technology is constant and that is how innovative solutions, networks and platforms come to existence.
Bulk SMS and Email are useful and effective platforms for launching business campaigns.
However, the launch of Over The Top (OTT) applications like WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Ping, Facebook Messenger, Skype, etc.
has gained tremendous popularity within a short span of time.
The key drivers for the significant growth of these OTT applications are because of the surge in smart phone devices, enhanced wireless communication networks and increased mobile adaptability among people across the globe.For more details click here
Over the past few months, as many movies both small and big made their way to the OTT platforms, there has been a rift as to what is the future of the cinema and what impact will OTT makes on the industry.
The emergence and growing popularity of OTT no doubt have transformed the advertising landscape.
