How JW Player’s Yield Optimization team drove HotNewHipHop’s fill rates through the roof.

The Challenge

HotNewHipHop delivers comprehensive news coverage and the latest music releases to an audience of over 20 million hip-hop fans and industry leaders. Though the site has always had a strong model for display advertising, it did not begin developing a robust on-site video monetization strategy until earlier this year. Prior to this Spring, HotNewHipHop had relied exclusively on YouTube for its video ad revenues but that solution included a significant rev share cut.

In order to make the most of its video content, HotNewHipHop needed a technology partner that could connect it with premium demand sources that would raise its fill rates and CPMs—without disrupting the user experience. Since the site was making its first foray into video monetization, its partner would also be required to offer technical support and strategic advice as it got its operation off the ground.

JW Player introduced HotNewHipHop to their Yield Optimization team who specialize in the implementation and optimization of video advertising strategies. They were involved in every stage of the relationship, from initial sales cycle through the trial, go-live, as well as follow-up conversations on optimization.

During the initial consultation, the Yield Ops team analyzed the site’s video strategy to suggest the right tools and best practices. HotNewHipHop would be well on its way to building a video powerhouse out of its first-rate content and highly engaged audience.

The Solution

HotNewHipHop selected JW Player for its high-quality customer service, innovative technology products and Yield Optimization team who worked closely with them to optimize their video advertising strategy and generate higher CPMs and fill rate moving forward through JW Player.

After the initial consultation and analysis, the Yield Ops team began by guiding HotNewHipHop on how to set up access to Google AdX. Not only did the Yield Ops team provide thorough analysis and guidance, they also promptly troubleshot a cross-platform issue and provided sample code that helped HotNewHipHop get Google AdX approval.

After setting up access to Google AdX, the Yield Ops team advised HotNewHipHop to begin using Video Player Bidding from JW Player to connect to more demand. Video Player Bidding provides all the benefits of header bidding built directly into the video player. This enabled HotNewHipHop to implement their video monetization with ease — driving additional ad revenue with the integrated SSP partners and far fewer ad errors while maintaining a low latency viewing experience. By implementing Video Player Bidding, HotNewHipHop immediately received demand from premium supply-side platforms (SSPs) like SpotX and PubMatic, allowing the site to increase fill rates and sell every ad impression to the highest bidder.

Crucially, HotNewHipHop achieved these gains without suffering an increase in latency or trudging through a complex setup process. The site’s team found Video Player Bidding’s implementation far simpler than display header bidding, reporting that even someone without much coding experience would be able to get up-and-running in a short period of time. Where display header bidding requires a separate setup for Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages—a key source of HotNewHipHop traffic—Video Player Bidding empowered the site to accommodate both channels with one easy process.

The Result

HotNewHipHop rapidly grew their ad revenue after they started working with JW Player’s Yield Ops team. Setting up access to Google AdX and implementing Video Player Bidding enabled HotNewHipHop to build a thriving video advertising business from the ground up.

When the publisher started working with JW Player in March, it earned $1,400 a month in video advertising revenues from YouTube. By May, its monthly video revenues climbed to over $56,000—a remarkable 40x monetization increase.

Indeed, Video Player Bidding lifted HotNewHipHop’s video advertising metrics across the board. After implementation, the site saw a 30% uptick in CPMs, 30X increase in impressions, and 40% fewer ad errors as compared to other publishers.