According to Accustream Research, from the beginning of 2005 until the end of 2008, online video content is forecast be viewed a total of 192 billion times. UGV (User Generated Video) content will account for an estimated 37% of this figure, with the remaining 63% accounted for by professionally generated video content. Either way you look at it, the growth of online video is in synch with the ever growing number of Internet surfers who choose to view their favorite video clips, television shows or music videos online.

Sites such as YouTube, Daily Motion and Metacafe, to name but a mere few, enable anyone with a video camera and a computer to upload their home made videos and create what is referred to as User Generated Video Content. Other sites such as Joost and ChannelKing enable Internet viewers to watch professionally produced television shows, news broadcasts and sporting events online.

The reach of online video as demonstrated by the above mentioned statistics, is huge and is only getting bigger. The majority of online video content is free to the viewer. However, in a world where there is ‘no such thing as a free lunch’ free online video viewing does have a cost too. The price to the viewer is watching a commercial either before after or during the transmission of the online video.

Already partnered with over 70 online video content sites, Adap.tv has developed technology, aptly named OneSource, that will provide the means to place an ad within a video in a variety of formats in addition, ensure that the ad itself is relevant to the content within the video and will not disrupt the watching experience of the viewer.

From the perspective of the online video content providers (the publishers) generating revenue from online video views has been an uphill struggle. Maximizing CPM, monetizing international views and partnering with the right ad networks have been the biggest dilemmas facing online video publishers.

Using the Adap.tv OneSource technology publishers can choose the format that fits the style of video. Clickable, overlay advertising in banner, text and animated formats is good for short videos. For videos of longer duration they provide video, banner and text formats for ads that appear prior to the video (pre-roll), at the end of the video (post-roll) and in the middle of the video (mid-roll). The length of the ad is also customizable by the publisher. The pre-established relationships and technical integration between Adap.tv and many different ad networks ensures that the publisher does not have to go through an excruciating development process with each ad serving network, saving time and money on development and integration.

From a viewer perspective the overlay advertising format is good because it doesn’t interfere or cause a pause in the video and in addition, it provides additional consumer information, relevant to the video, that the viewer can either pay attention to or zone out at their own will, with no disruption to the viewing experience.

Partnering with a vast number of ad networks such as Google Adsense and Look Smart, the Adap.tv One Source technology serves targeted ads across their growing network of video publishers. The ads are placed contextually to corresponding videos. The technology first analyzes the video and only then places a relevant ad.

Speaking to AdMarkTech, Amir Ashkenazi, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Adap.tv outlined the ad serving process “We extract topics, sub-topics and keywords. We also extract ratings like G, PG and R. We use this information and the relationships that we have with all the ad networks to get the best ads that each ad network has for each inventory. We monitor user interaction with the ads, learn what’s working and what’s not for every video view and select the ad that is likely to maximize revenue for the publisher.” Using the Adap.tv backend system, everything is then reported back to the publisher through a comprehensive, easy to use, user interface.

In addition, video publishers can interact directly with advertisers and using the Adap.tv OneSource technology, can target and serve those ads too.

Amir went on to highlight the advantages of using the One Source technology:

• Higher Revenue Across All Video Views
• Viewer Friendly And Brand Relevant Ads
• Simple To Install And Manage Many Ad Networks

“In our own experiment we found that the combination of our network is 65% better than the best ad networks. We cover 10 countries right now and are expanding quickly. Video consumption is a growing phenomenon so it is a significant contributor to the revenue. We classify ourselves as a complete video advertising solution.”

Relying heavily on PR and Industry based conferences, the majority of business flowing into Adap.tv is from word of mouth referrals from satisfied customers. With just 27 employees based in San Matteo and New York, Adap.tv is certainly paving the way for the future of online video advertising.