JW LIVE AVAILABLE TO ALL ENTERPRISE PLATFORM CUSTOMERS AT NO EXTRA CHARGE

Date:
August 8, 2017
Author:
Alex Zeng
JW Live makes it easy to live stream. Now it’s even easier than before because JW Live is currently available to all Enterprise customers at no additional charge. We have simplified the pricing enabling publishers to experiment with live-streaming without headaches of complex, multi-tiered billing. You only pay for the bytes you stream and you’re billed at the same VOD rate.  We believe that removing the cost of JW Live is the right move for our customers and is in line with JW Player’s friendly approach towards helping customers with their video needs; simple to understand and easy to use. Going live is much more accessible!
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Why Click-to-Play Video is a Digital Publisher’s Best Friend

Date:
August 1, 2017
Author:
Brian Rifkin
Change is afoot in the world of video advertising. In the months to come, both Google Chrome and Apple's Safari browsers are expected to release updates that approach video very differently than ever before. Rather than autoplaying, videos featuring audio that is not muted will require users to click to play, putting the control squarely in consumers' hands. This development stands to have a huge impact on the browsing experience. According to JW Player data recently cited in Business Insider, based on 400 million daily plays on our network-independent video platform, 65% of video plays in Chrome and 53% of plays in Safari are currently autostart, with half of those being sound-on. The numbers are similar for video ads: 61% of video ads in Chrome and 66% of those in Safari currently play without user initiation.
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5 Ways to Get Your Video Tech Ready for Q4

Date:
July 25, 2017
Author:
Gabrielle Smith
In the northern hemisphere we’re sweating through summer, but Q4 is on the horizon, and your video technology should be optimized and ready to perform. After all, Q4 brings the highest demand for video ad inventory as marketers push their holiday season messages.   This raises a simple but essential question: Is your business prepared? To help, we've compiled five key questions to consider to help you make sure that your video platform is ready for Q4.
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How to Make Your Viewers Happy AND Boost Video CPMs

Date:
July 10, 2017
Author:
Gabrielle Smith
It's no secret advertisers are hungry for video content and its viewers. The good news for digital publishers is that a programmatic approach makes it possible for anyone with modest scale to plug into a demand source and monetize video through advertising. Here's the catch: To create a standout user experience for viewers while also attracting premium advertisers, publishers need to execute careful and critical choices. Based on experience working with digital publishers around the world to optimize their sites for video, we've identified the strategies that are proven to deliver results. We've posted these recommendations in a 5-part blog series over the past 2 months with concrete actions you can take to grow your business by creating a more satisfying video experience for advertisers and users alike. Below is a summary for easy-access to these posts. 
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5 Tips to Boost Video CPMs by Setting Up Your Ad Demand Stack – Part 5

Date:
July 5, 2017
Author:
Brian Rifkin
Video publishing is a complicated operation. Over the course of our series on Video Publishing Best Practices, we've covered audience, speed, viewability, content, and user experience, all of which are fundamental to amplifying video CPMs. While a successful video strategy couldn't exist without these elements, there is one more aspect of video publishing to consider before you put your game plan into effect: optimizing your technical performance and ad demand stack.

1. Make Sure Your Video Player is Compatible with Your Ad Server

There's a lot involved in making sure your video player integrates with your third-party ad server partners. First, be sure to use a video player that's HTML5-compatible. Then, confirm that the player supports integration with your Ad Server or SSP. If your ad server of choice is DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), confirm that your player supports Google's IMA software development kit (SDK).

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5 Tips to Boost Video CPMs by Knowing Your Users – Part 4

Date:
June 30, 2017
Author:
Brian Rifkin
Know your audience is one of those sayings that applies to just about everyone, from keynote speakers to stand-up comedians—and yes, site publishers, too. When your objective is to boost your video ad CPM rates, you've got to get inside your viewers' heads. Determining who they are, how they're finding their way to your site, and what they hope to see when they get there allows you to tweak your video viewing experience to meet their specific needs. In this fourth installment of our Video Publishing Best Practices Series, we'll look at how customizing your video strategy to your unique audience can lead to a better return on investment for your advertising partners.

1. Make Sure Your Views Come From Real Traffic

Before you get started, you first have to make sure that your visitors are human. Fraudulent site traffic is an ongoing concern, as digital traffic generated by bots impacts video advertising by diluting the effectiveness of your clients' investments. As explained by eMarketer, video and mobile are especially prone to fraud as they are “higher value areas.” The company also notes that as fraud protection technology becomes more sophisticated, so do efforts to “deceive” buyers. This has advertisers collaborating with their vendor and publishing partners to reduce bot fraud and protect the integrity of their video impressions. As eMarketer puts it, “advertisers, legitimate sellers and industry organizations continue to push for greater accountability from those continuing to perpetrate it or permit its presence in the ecosystem.”
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5 Tips to Boost Video CPMs By Building Your Content Library – Part 3

Date:
June 22, 2017
Author:
Brian Rifkin
So far in our Video Publishing Best Practices Series we've covered the role that user experience and viewability play in video monetization — but none of that can exist without content. How you source and present your videos, and the placement of your clients' ads within them, influences metrics ranging from views and return visits to audience retention and subscription rates. What follows is a set of guidelines designed to help you make the most of the video content on your site in the interest of creating the optimal experience for the user and advertiser.

1. "Videofy" Your Evergreen Content

If you're like most publishers, you have a huge repository of evergreen content on your site. Articles that are generally useful and relevant to ongoing issues are likely to entice your audience for years to come. So why not leverage their popularity for the benefit of your advertisers? By identifying high-traffic stories and pages and then adding related videos to that content, you can offer desirable new advertising opportunities where there were none. Between providing your visitors with an enhanced content experience and giving your advertisers access to high-performing pages, it's a win-win.
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5 Tips to Boost Video CPMs By Showing Off Your Content – Part 2

Date:
June 15, 2017
Author:
Brian Rifkin
What does it take to create a video viewing experience so seamless and effectual that advertisers will happily pay higher rates? In the first installment of this series, we explored UX and its impact on video monetization. While great experience — from faster load times to a mobile-friendly format — contributes to success, there's more to creating an effective video publishing strategy. The way you present and position video content on your page influences everything from view-throughs to engagement rates. The goal for all publishers is to create an optimal experience for the user and advertiser. With that in mind, here are five best practices for improving the appearance of your video content and increasing the value of your ad inventory.

1. Select Eye-Catching Thumbnail Images

Before a video can generate a single view, it has to catch a user's eye. On a page teeming with content, this isn't always easy. The thumbnail images you choose to represent each video must be powerful enough to generate an immediate response, so that users can't help but click. Thumbnail images should reveal enough about the content that the user can make an informed decision to watch. Pick an image that showcases a key moment in the video and incites an emotional response. Featuring faces is also a smart move; just as happy faces can improve the effectiveness of advertising (neuromarketing research shows that "A smiling face is a powerful and incredibly simple tool to enhance customer joy and increase brand appeal"), consumers are likely to be drawn to the faces in your thumbnail images. You'll also want your images to feature a single point of focus and contrasting colors, as this will improve visibility on small mobile screens.
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