Digital advertising has grown significantly over the last few years, perhaps too much.
Users are becoming increasingly indifferent toward online ads since they are bombarded with them wherever they go. This so-called banner blindness is causing problems for publishers and advertisers, as it’s making their clickthrough rates dip.
That is where a new, innovative ad format proved to be the perfect solution for the problem — the sticky ad unit.
This innovation came as a godsend for both publishers and advertisers as it allowed them to increase ad viewability and better engage users. That applies to both display advertising and digital video advertising industries.
Let’s look at what these units are, why you should consider using them, and how TargetVideo uses innovative sticky units to skyrocket publishers’ revenue.
What Are Sticky Ad Units
Sticky ad units (also known as anchor ads) are types of ads that remain fixed to a part of users’ screens and follow them as they scroll down the page. Sticky ads stay in users’ views even past their initial position and remain visible regardless of where the user is on a page.
Publishers can choose where these ads will stick, with the most common choices being the sidebar, top, or the bottom of the users’ screens. If users don’t want these ads to follow them, they can dismiss them manually.
Sticky ad units work on desktop and mobile devices, giving publishers excellent advertising flexibility. These ad units are available for both banner and video ads.
Benefits of Sticky Ad Units
Sticky ads have become a staple in the online advertising industry for a good reason. They offer publishers plenty of tangible benefits:
- Higher Ad Viewability — Most advertising models require ads to remain fully in users’ view for the impressions to count. That is where sticky ad units shine; they keep 100% of publishers’ ads visible for longer, translating into more impressions and higher revenue.
- Effective Solution to Banner Blindness — Sticky ad units are so striking that it’s impossible not to notice them. That helps publishers combat the ever-growing problem of banner blindness.
- Excellent Customization Options — Sticky ad units offer greater customization options than most traditional video and display ads. Publishers have more freedom in choosing where these ads will appear, their sizes, and various other customization features.
- Non-Intrusive — Sticky ads are some of the least intrusive ad types if implemented correctly. Publishers can position these ads not to obstruct any on-page content for optimal user experience.
- Higher Ad Yield — With better ad viewability come higher CPMs, and both publishers and advertisers enjoy this benefit.
As you can see, incorporating sticky ads into your digital strategy should be a no-brainer. However, there are a few things to consider when implementing these ads.
Things to Look Out for When Implementing Sticky Ads
It’s evident that sticky ad units are an effective way to boost ad revenue. However, these ads can be pretty problematic to implement.
The reason is simple — publishers must adhere to strict guidelines when implementing sticky ad units. That is particularly true for video ads.
Most video ad networks take their sticky player guidelines from Google, so at least you won’t have to memorize several different rule sets. Here are a few of the most notable directives to follow when implementing sticky video ads:
- A sticky video player must first start as a regular in-page player.
- The in-page player must come fully in view before shrinking and switching into a sticky video player.
- The sticky player must not obstruct any video, on-page, or navigation content.
- Publishers must allow users to turn the sticky player off at will.
Full List of Guidelines: Google’s Video Publisher Policy
Failing to adhere to these guidelines can lead to getting a penalty or a ban from your programmatic advertising platform or SSP, and that risk is not worth the extra CPM in the short term.
Why Sticky Video Ads Are Your Best Option
It’s no secret that video ads offer some of the highest CPMs in the industry. The reason is that video ads are more engaging and effective than other online ad formats.
But when you combine video advertising with sticky ad units, you get the perfect match. So if you’re looking to maximize ad yield, sticky video ads are your best bet.
That is why TargetVideo lets publishers monetize videos with several innovative types of sticky ads. These ad units were built to help publishers maximize ad viewability and revenue. Publishers can serve these ads through our lightweight HTML5 video player to ensure swift delivery with minimal latency.
TargetVideo’s Sticky Ad Units
Here are the types of sticky video ad formats available at TargetVideo and how publishers can use them to sell more ad inventory.
In-Slide Outstream Unit
TargetVideo’s in-slide outstream unit lets publishers serve a sticky video ad through our outstream player. That allows publishers to serve video ads even on pages without video content.
This sticky ad unit appears as a small player in one of the corners of a web page and follows the users as they scroll down. The player will disappear once the ad finishes, or users manually close it.
Simple Content Unit
TargetVideo’s simple content unit is an excellent way for publishers to maximize ad viewability on the more lucrative instream video ads. This sticky unit starts as a full-size video player but shrinks and continues playing videos once the user scrolls past it.
Publishers can also choose to display the video’s title on the right or the left side of the sticky unit and decide whether the unit will appear on the top or the bottom of the page. The background and font colors are fully customizable, allowing publishers to make their videos stand out more.
This sticky content unit is available on both desktop and mobile devices.
Sticky Player
Publishers with rich content libraries looking to maximize their revenue can best do so with our sticky player feature. This option lets publishers make our player act as an in-slide sticky unit (floating player) and follow users as they scroll down the page without obstructing content.
Our player also allows publishers to autoplay their videos if an ad is present, allowing them to serve instream video ads in a sticky player without needing users to interact with your videos. This option is one of the most popular ones among publishers as it offers the highest CPMs and ad yield.
TargetVideo’s sticky player is also fully optimized for Google’s Core Web Vitals, so it won’t negatively impact publishers’ CLS scores.
Maximize Ad Yield With TargetVideo’s Engaging Video Ad Units
If you’re looking to increase video ad revenue, sticky ad units are the way to go. Just don’t forget about user experience. Pick the units your audience engages with the most, and ensure you optimize them properly.
And if you want to stay ahead of the competition, try TargetVideo’s innovative ad units. We’ve got everything — instream units, sticky outstream units, and even some original formats like our simple content units. These units have all the customization options publishers need to stay compliant with sticky player guidelines and keep users engaged.
So if you want to keep big buyers’ attention and take your ad-powered business to the next level, get in touch, and let us help you skyrocket your revenue.
