In August of 2022 the IAB Tech Lab introduced updates to its Ad Formats Guidelines for Digital Video and CTV which amended the definition of in-stream video.
In August of 2022 the IAB Tech Lab introduced updates to its Ad Formats Guidelines for Digital Video and CTV, which amended the definition of in-stream video to include video that is sound-on and plays before, during, or after streaming video content that the user has requested; is served into and executed within a player; is used to monetize content that the publisher is delivering; and can include linear and non-linear ads which don’t need to be a video format. This update posed a severe challenge for publishers, especially smaller ones, as 90% of what once constituted in-stream inventory was now considered outstream, in addition to the fact that many publishers use sound-off players for an optimal user experience.
As Adweek noted last month, this “reclassification sought to remedy the problem by stipulating a new, far narrower set of criteria for what kind of inventory would qualify as in-stream. But in doing so, the new definitions threatened to upend the economy of digital video advertising.” This change raised a red flag for companies like Connatix as well, as the addition of audio criteria to the guidelines limited quality inventory from being labeled as in-stream, an outcome which benefits neither publishers, who know sound-on is an annoyance to their audience, nor advertisers, who will face artificial inventory scarcity.
Given the pushback taking place industry-wide, the latest update is now ready for implementation and provides publishers, advertisers and technology companies with more clarity and the tools they need to further drive industry transparency. Let’s dive into it:
Sound-on in video is an accurate indicator of consumer intent and it’s important to signal high-value video inventory that does not meet the in-stream requirement, but sound-on should not be and is not the only qualifier here. The latest non-technical definition of an in-stream video placement is that the user truly intended to watch video content. It now also includes when the video is the primary focus of the page visit – which is what the "sound on" guideline was truly intended for. There was a need for a clear distinction between players that run in-stream and outstream and the updated spec clarifies that the outstream designation is only for ads.
The new spec makes space for a new video type, accompanying content. As our President and CRO Jenn Chen recently mentioned in Adweek, “this category was created to reflect the vast chasm in relevance between premium, in-stream video and standalone video ads.” Accompanying content shares discoverable content with the end user but it may not be the initial purpose of their visit. The video player can load before, between or after paragraphs of text or graphical content and start playing only when it enters the viewport. This new placement lets publishers suggest great content in the same way social platforms and YouTube do today, without being labeled as outstream, and helps to remedy the unfair double standard when it comes to determining in-stream video. For example, a buyer will label any YouTube video as in-stream, even if it's a follow-up video the user did not originally choose to watch.
All of these positive changes are underpinned by the fact that contextual relevance is a benefit to the end user. With the convergence of video advertising across screens, so comes the desire to target video advertising more efficiently and with more granularity. The Tech Lab made a big leap towards video ad support in OpenRTB in 2022 with 2.6 and Pod Bidding. Contextual targeting helps make discoverable video experiences more relevant to the end user and therefore more attention grabbing, which impacts the ads that run around it. Contextually relevant accompanying content can be a great way for publishers to get users to watch more content and advertisers to engage those users around topics that matter, and is a clear next step in the evolution of contextual advertising that should be acknowledged by the IAB.
The key to a fair playing field will be equal adoption and enforcement of these new standards across the industry in order to drive real change. The updated guidelines also included a new attribute, video.plcmnt, to incentivize publishers to adopt the new values, but with the understanding that each SSP and DSP will adopt the new definitions into their platforms at different times. The best path forward incentivizes early adoption but doesn’t punish publishers using the new values, especially if some of their demand partners are still using legacy values.
At the end of the day, video should be accessible to brands, and when in-stream is fairly priced, it can drive more demand that reflects its true market value. Brands that may have been originally priced out now have more to spend, advertisers win because they can now get into video, and publishers win because there are more advertisers fueling the pipeline than ever before. Overall, transparency will equate to a fair market price for the industry and help publishers get a fair price for in-stream in an already downturning economy.
This new update is a positive step in the right direction of holding all players in the industry to the same standards. And as we adopt these principles we can drive real change and action.