In an on-going effort to monetize online video, AOL has released a new form of video advertising called ‘Ticker Ads’. Ticker Ads are a graphic banner ad that is integrated directly into the video player.

The new advertising format has been developed with third parties as an alternative to intrusive pre-roll advertising. The Ticker Ads aim to be always visible on screen without interrupting the video that’s playing. Ticker Ads simply sit below the streaming video and expand to launch a video ad when clicked on by the consumer. The new format gives prominent brand placement without delivering a bad user experience.

A screenshot of the new ad format is below:

Source: Search Engine Land

From the AOL press release:

“Rather than overlaying an ad and obstructing the view of a video, AOL’s video ticker ad appears at the bottom of the video player 10 seconds into the video stream. When clicked by a user, the ad expands while the video pauses. If the user does not interact with the ad, it will dissolve after 15 seconds leaving the branded text link. Clicking on the branded text link, located at the top of the video player, will relaunch the ticker.”

The new Ads come as pre-roll placement has emerged as the industry standard, despite an ugly reception from some users. If you’ve had experience with the new Ticker Ads, let us know what you think!