As a member of Yahoo’s Smart Ads program, PointRoll will use Yahoo’s reach and targeting capabilities to provide more customized, relevant and scalable rich media campaigns. PointRoll will also use its ShopLocal retail ad program to offer improved Smart Ads for retail advertisers.

Jason Tafler
CEO of PointRoll

"By partnering with Yahoo, PointRoll can offer marketers new opportunities to quickly and efficiently deliver behaviorally targeted rich media ads to the right audiences," said Jason Tafler, CEO of PointRoll. "

"As recent Dynamic Logic data illustrates, rich media outperforms standard Flash and gif ads. With Yahoo’s Smart Ads program, PointRoll helps brands auto-optimize creative and targeting to greatly improve the relevance of their campaigns and get the most out of every impression."

Smart Ads can be used in any vertical industry, but Yahoo says it has seen success within the retail industry, where many advertisers are looking for new ways to reach consumers.

Testing Smart Ads with ShopLocal retail ad content has shown improved campaign performance for retail advertisers such as CVS and Kohl’s. These advertisers saw gains in click performance, conversion and overall return on investment.

Yahoo sites attracted 154 million unique visitors in June, each spending an average of 4.6 hours on the properties, according to comScore.

Out of 80 percent of viewers who watched an online video ad over half took some type of action. Close to a third had visited a related Web site, while 22 percent looked for more information, 15 percent had gone to a store and 12 percent made a purchase.

"With online video firmly entrenched in the mainstream, marketers need to understand what works for driving key advertising metrics," said Pam Horan, OPA president. "Frames of Reference identifies the most important factors — from ad length to the impact of adjacent content — that can improve video advertising effectiveness."

PointRoll examined how online video advertising is useful to brand marketers, and discovered that interactivity can increase the time viewers spend with brands. When a video ad included some form of interactivity such as buttons to click to find out more, it created an increase in the average brand interaction time.

eMarketer Senior Analyst David Hallerman said, "This is the kind of data that each company needs to measure for its own brand and its own campaign."

"While useful as a starting point, average interaction rates or increases in branding metrics such as awareness or intent to buy depend significantly on the marketer’s objectives, the stage in a brand’s life (introduction or longtime, say), where the video runs (which Web sites and pages) and what format delivers the message."

Pennsylvania-based PointRoll is a heavy hitter in the rich media services industry, garnering some 60 percent market share, according to Nielsen’s Ad Relevance. AOL will be leveraging PointRoll’s large sales staff, advertiser and agency relationships, and a rich media team.

The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two companies, pitting AOL as PointRoll’s preferred portal partner. The earliest offspring of this partnership is NetStream, which is already running ads at AOL.

Financials terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but reports say this is a major financial commitment from AOL. That commitment comes as the company seeks to create the next generation of web advertising through platforms like video banner ads and improved measurement.

While advertisers have questioned the effectiveness of pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads, NetStream’s embedded video player keeps tabs on clicks and plays, with behavioral targeting abilities.

AOL, despite a world of troubles in 2006, has been boosted lately by a smooth and profitable transition from a subscription Internet access model to an ad-supported portal model. When compared to 2005 billings, AOL racked up a 454 percent increase in 2006.

Part of that success is due to a seemingly insatiable public appetite for free, interactive services. The bulk of these online socialites are being dubbed by Avenue A/Razorfish "the Digital Class," between 18 and 24 years old.

"This population lives and breathes the Internet, and seeks differentiation through media, music and online networking," said A/Razorfish’s Jeff Lanctot.

"For marketers seeking to engage with the Digital Class, it’s critical to have a clear understanding of how this group uses the Internet and other digital channels, as well as how they view marketing. The differences are stark."