Traditionally, videos ads are shown mainly as 15-second and 30-second advertising spots intercepting a television show’s running time. Today, these same TV spots are being shown online as either linear or nonlinear formats. Within these two groups are several types of advertisements meant to be shown as part of a video stream or embedded within a banner display. The following discussion contains more details about each of these types.

Linear Video Ads

They’re referred to as linear because they start playing in any part of a streaming video. These include pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads. The first type begins playing before the video starts. For around fifteen seconds, viewers must wait and watch the short video ad done in the style of television commercials. Mid-roll ads – as their name indicates – are videos that suddenly appear in the middle of watching your favorite music video or some other user-generated video content. The last type, of course, appears at the end of the video stream and may include a menu for other similar videos.

An alternative for advertisers is to apply a video overlay, but present a list of options for the viewer. The audience may watch a different kind of ad depending on their personal interests. At best, these linear video ads are entertaining and engage the viewer to follow through the links provided because of a promised reward, such as a promotional discount or a surprise gift. At their worst, the repetitive and unskippable ones are terribly annoying and only lead to brand rage – a totally negative perception of the brand that raises resentment and distrust among consumers.

Non-Linear Video Ads

Video ads that are placed on some other part of the page or embedded in a banner display are non-linear type. They can be played either concurrently, automatically, or on-demand. Concurrent ads are videos that overlay the whole page or another ad and plays simultaneously with the video stream. Usually, they expand whenever the user’s mouse hovers over the banner ad on top or on the side of the page.

Non-overlay ads that don’t change in size can be played automatically without waiting for the user to opt-in to watch it. These ads can be annoying, especially when the viewer is wearing a pair of earphones and the ad’s music suddenly blasts through the headset. However, they can be paused or stopped immediately with a click. They’re a better option than overlays because they won’t cover important information that the viewer might have been searching.

There are other types of video ads, of course. These may be companion ads to the main video content. In-banner ads, meanwhile, start as expanded pages of content with videos and other media and usually interactive. In-text displays, on one hand, appear as linked words and phrases and when the mouse hovers over them, a video pops up and starts playing. Lastly, gamers and home viewers often see in-game video ads or connected TV ads that appear along with the video game or movie they’re playing or watching.

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