Tumblr launching Autoplay Video Ads with High Hopes
eMarketer estimates that US advertisers will increase digital video spending to $5.96 billion, a 42% increase in 2014. Tumblr is well-aware of this as they prepare to launch their own autoplay video ads. The sponsored video posts have already attracted big players on the advertising market: 11 brands such as Universal Pictures, Hulu and Lexus will inaugurate the new service. For the rest of us, these services will open around mid-November.
Tumblr – which Yahoo bought for $1.1 billion last year – has high hopes when it comes to video advertising, as it might push them towards gaining a nine-figure business status in 2015. According to Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO, Tumblr will reach $100 million revenue next year.
Tumblr won’t go on the well-known route when it comes to pre-roll video ads. Lee brown, the global head of brand partnerships at Tumblr said that provided content won’t be in front of the things you actually want to see – they want the advertisements to be the ones that you’ll be interested in. Raising the bar a bit high if you ask me…
Tumblr has another ace up the sleeve, thanks to its fresh new video player. Videos can now play or replay very easily, but they remain muted until the end user decides to turn on sound. An interesting feature is that the video player can be moved in the dashboard feed area, so that users can simultaneously “enjoy” an ad and the Tumblr posts they are already scrolling through. The player is compatible with Instagram and Vine videos, but these are not yet available as a deal with Facebook and Twitter is required for cross-posting between the platforms.
It seems that Tumblr has come a long way due to the new video ad capabilities, considering that in the past, the Sponsored Post ads were the only option to promote video advertisements. These did not feature autoplay, loop or pop-out of feeds.
Lexus is one of the brands that will make use of video advertising on Tumblr. They will begin by advertising the Lexus Design Disrupted event and you can take a look at the promoted video below.
Kind of like Facebook… but not as good
There isn’t anything particularly new here. This may be due to the fact that Facebook’s new video ads, which have been active for quite some time, really set a standard. Even Spotify is getting in on it. In fact, Tumblr really seems to be following a Facebook recipe here.
Video content has seen an overall increase over the past two years on both Facebook and Tumblr. On the latter, officials have stated video uploads are growing twice as fast as photo uploads. Furthermore, the site goes on the same trail as Facebook with autoplay and it’s also been pushing top talent from YouTube to post on Tumblr.
The Ad Platform – targeting and analytics
A pay-per-view system is employed for advertisers that want to work with Tumblr. This isn’t a total rip-off, even if videos autoplay, because the charge is made only after two seconds have been played in view. Looping of the content is not paid for and the same exemption applies to views from sharing or “reblogging”. Still, at first glance, it’s not as accessible as Facebook or Youtube’s video ads.
Video marketing advertisers have access to targeting tools like gender, location or a certain interest (derived by Tumblr based on what you read). Length limits are not imposed and there is no minimum-budget required for advertisers, either. The analytics dashboard provides insight into the number of plays, pop-outs, unmutes and mutes, as well as budget stats.
