7 Best Video Ad Networks For Publishers in 2022
Video marketing has more than proved itself as a viable strategy. Video content has permeated every part of daily life, from education to entertainment, and its popularity is demonstrated by the massive userbases boasted by social media platforms. YouTube, as an example, sports over 2.3 billion monthly active users worldwide. Clearly, there is a strong case for businesses to use video marketing.
In order to tap into these enormous potential audiences, businesses have been turning to video ad networks to extend their reach. These networks help put your video ads in front of newer audiences, quickly drawing a level of attention that would be difficult to achieve organically. As such, it’s no surprise that many businesses dedicate a portion of their ad spend to these video ad networks.
Though useful, there are many video ad networks on the market. With so much choice, it can be tough to find which one is best for you. That’s why we’ve done the research for you and created a list of 7 great video ad networks for your consideration.
What is a video ad network?
Before we get into the best video ad networks, let’s first explain what they are. Essentially, a video ad network is a trading platform, used by publishers and advertisers to buy and sell ad inventory. Publishers will use video ad networks to sell their ad space, while advertisers use them to find suitable ad space to buy.
Video ad networks also handle negotiations with potential buyers, discussing the target audiences, cost per impression, and other important points. If a deal is struck, the video ad network will also handle data management and reporting for a campaign.
Instream or outstream video ads?
When using a video ad network, you will likely be met with these terms quite often. But what do they mean, and which of the two should you use?
Instream video ads
Put simply, instream video ads play during a video. They can be quite effective, particularly when the video in question and the existing audience align with your brand. When done properly, advertisers can market to a receptive audience during a relevant video, without being obtuse or distracting.
However, instream videos can produce poor results in certain scenarios. If your target video isn’t relevant to your brand, you probably won’t be exposed to a receptive audience. In the worst case, that audience will be irritated at being served an irrelevant ad and make a point of not checking out your brand. As such, it’s always best to vet a potential video, ensuring its audience matches your own target audience.
Outstream video ads
Outstream video ads are perfect for publishers without existing video content to stitch video ads into. They function as most other ads do, occupying a bit of ad space on a website. This makes them a bit more versatile than instream ads, able to be displayed wherever you think would net the best results.
Whichever option you choose, you will still need to negotiate with publishers to get your ads displayed. Video ad networks give you the best chance of finding the perfect publisher, and can take a lot of the work off your hands. Let’s take a look at seven of the best video ad networks available.
1. Open X
OpenX is an excellent video ad network, one perfect for publishers looking to find buyers for their ad inventory. It has a huge client base, one with some well-known names, such as Vice, earning its renown as one of the go-to platforms for publishers. With OpenX, you can target an array of platforms and devices, from desktop and mobile, to over the top (OTT) ads on services like Netflix.
OpenX supports instream and outstream video ads, and comes with a set of advanced analytics. With these tools, you’ll be able to assess the performance of your ad campaigns with ease. OpenX also has a suite of customization options, so you’ll be able to tweak your campaigns to your liking.
2. Primis
Primis is another fantastic video ad network for publishers, designed to serve its users high-quality content from various sources, using their Video Discovery platform. This means that publishers stand a better chance of getting ads out to audiences they might not reach through other means.
Primis’ Video Discovery platform makes billions of recommendations to its millions of users monthly. It’s brilliant for a large number of impressions, and, unsurprisingly, a feature that has drawn hundreds of publishers to use Primis as their video ad network.
These impressions aren’t wasteful either. Primis recommends video ads based on how its users interact with them. For users that engage with a particular type of ad, Primis will make similar recommendations. If ads are ignored, Primis will automatically skip them, showing different ads instead. As such, you aren’t wasting your ad spend on a marketing dead end.
3. Magnite
Magnite, formerly known as Rubicon Project, is a strong platform for advertisers. It features a clientele of well-known names, including Bloomberg and The Economist, and over 300 other publishers.
Magnite uses programmatic advertising, a handy feature that streamlines ad space trading using automation. With programmatic advertising, everything from your ordering to your reporting will be handled automatically.
With Magnite, you will be able to place your ads on all kinds of devices. Desktop and mobile devices are included, along with TV and more. Magnite also has a fantastic set of analytics tools, allowing you to gauge the performance of your campaigns at a glance.
4. Facebook Audience Network
Facebook Audience Network is a great video ad network for social media users. It’s geared toward mobile users, due to most Facebook users browsing the platform on a mobile device. If you cater toward other devices, FAN might not be ideal for you.
FAN has a range of ad formats to choose from, including seamless native support, full-screen or interstitial ads, and banner ads. If you have spare mobile ad inventory, FAN could be ideal for you.
5. Unruly
Unruly is quite an accessible video ad network, allowing publishers without video content monetization. This is a surprisingly unique feature, with few other video ad networks offering the same perk.
In addition to accessibility, Unruly offers several different types of ad formats. You have several options for both instream and outstream video ads, and a few mobile video options too. Unruly also lets you follow the performance of your videos in real-time with its excellent analytics tools.
6. Chocolate Platform
Chocolate Platform is a fairly new, but very quickly growing video ad network. It mostly caters to mobile device users, making it great if you have mobile ad inventory. It boasts a user base of over 7700 websites and apps, and generates over 20 billion impressions every month. For a newcomer, fast-growing is an understatement.
Most of Chocolate Platform’s attention is on mobile apps, rather than websites. It offers excellent monetization and targeting options for these apps, but is a bit lacking for mobile websites, which make up only 10% of its traffic. However, there are still options for mobile websites, albeit quite limited. Chocolate Platform also equips users with real-time analytics, making it simple to keep up with your campaigns.
7. AdMedia
AdMedia is another video ad network that utilizes programmatic advertising. It is a somewhat niche but steadily growing platform, which uniquely allows users to monetize third-party videos. Alongside this, it has an array of other video types on offer. AdMedia even allows publishers to choose videos from their partners’ libraries, which is an excellent feature if you don’t have any of your own.
AdMedia prioritizes safety, coming equipped with tools that ensure both advertisers and publishers are safe from fraud and that their brands are protected. In addition to security, AdMedia comes with a range of customization options, giving you control over how your ads are served.
Wrapping up
That’s all for our list of the seven best video ad networks in 2022. Each network has its pros and cons, but they all share an excellent ability to get your ads impressions without being too intrusive on your viewers’ browsing experience. Each platform comes with its own set of analytics tools, so make sure you use them regularly to get the most out of your campaign. Once you’ve picked your network, all that’s left is to get advertising!
