New online video advertising service launched

A new service overlaying contextual advertising on online videos has been launched this week.

by Helen Leggatt

The service, called Adap.tv, uses speech recognition technology to analyze the video content and serve up relevant ads. Adap.tv has already partnered with Amazon and Shopping.com to ensure a huge database of products from the start.

The video advertising solution gives marketers another tool to monetize online video content. Many, including Adap.tv’s founder Amir Ashkenazi, feel pre-roll ads aren’t user-friendly. "To date, online video advertising has simply copied the techniques that worked best in the offline world," he said. "Adap.tv uses the power of contextual advertising to deliver the next generation of online video advertising."

The Adap.tv service will work by overlaying ghosted images of products on to the video player which, when clicked, take them to the advertiser’s landing page. Text ads will also be used and scrolled at the foot of the screen.

Video content will be provided by Metacafe and the ads will initially be shown within their travel video section. Ultimately, Metacafe and Adap.tv plan to move in to the brand advertising market. "The really big thing from my perspective is what they can do for brand advertisers," said Mort Greenberg, Metacafe’s vice president of sales.