Advertisers chasing cheaper alternatives to CTV are fueling the comeback of in-banner video, leaving publishers to balance rising demand with inventory management headaches and user experience risks.
In-banner video—embedding video ads within standard display units—is making a resurgence. Many SSPs have rolled out new video offerings that are essentially in-banner video by another name.
According to Paul Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer at Raptive, the comeback of in-banner videos is driven heavily by advertisers’ need for affordable video inventory. Advertisers still need to spend on video, but there isn’t enough supply of qualified, traditional video inventory.Â
With a scarcity of true in-stream opportunities, advertisers are left with limited places to allocate their video budgets. Enter in-banner video.
“It’s basically reverted back to where it was eight years ago. We’re all in the same crappy situations, which is causing its own set of problems for publishers and advertisers,” said Bannister.Â
In-banner videos fell out of fashion because they often auto-played with muted sound, or sometimes crowded into multiple slots on a page, leading to poor user experience and advertiser ROI. Today, publishers are dealing with the same headaches while SSPs repackage these old tactics.
Decoding the Video Slot Puzzle
Managing in-banner video placements is no simple feat, according to Bannister. Â
In programmatic, publishers open a space on their site and ask the supply chain, “What ad goes here?” The problem is they don’t know ahead of time if an ad slot will end up in a display, video, native or high-impact format. The uncertainty makes it hard to manage their inventory.Â
However, Bannister emphasized that the IAB Tech Lab established distinct video standards in 2023 for publishers to follow.Â
“The ideal industry standard exists, but many DSPs and buyers oversimplify video formats, lumping everything together and ignoring the nuanced ‘shades of gray’ between different video types,” he said.Â
Bannister’s advice to publishers is to stay engaged and understand what video formats are running on their sites. Most importantly, avoid simply flipping a switch on the latest video units without thoughtful oversight.
Why In-Banner Video Is Rising Again
But what’s behind the surge? Ad ops teams are dealing with the surge driven by buyers chasing cheaper alternatives to CTV. The return is introducing new challenges for publishers in managing formats, user experience and pricing.Â
Higher-quality video, like CTV, is “finite and expensive,” sometimes hitting CPMs above $30, Bannister said. That price point creates strong demand for more affordable video inventory and web-native formats like in-banner video are positioned to fill that gap for publishers.
Rising demand in in-banner video is also happening because buyers are moving away from running sticky video ads on publishers sites.
“Some of the money that was going to sticky players is shifting to in-banner video because it’s easier to buy,” he said.
Sticky ad formats, distinct from in-banner video, are video players that remain fixed in place on the user’s screen as they scroll through a webpage. They are often positioned at the top, bottom or sides providing persistent visibility throughout the browsing session.
“Sticky video players running on the side of a web page aren’t the best experience, but they’re way cheaper than CTV,” Paul said. For buyers, it’s a price-versus-performance dance. And SSPs are a willing dance partner, satisfying the demand for cheap video by cranking out fresh in-banner video units.
And publishers risk a hit to user experience if in-banner ad formats clutter their pages. One of the biggest challenges is when multiple videos play simultaneously. When several video ad slots are configured to auto-play video creatives at the same time, a page will end up having multiple video ads running instead of one video ad and other static ads. For example, one or more in-banner video ads could run alongside a sticky video player.
Despite these user experience challenges, Bannister insists there’s a way to win if publishers and buyers get smart about how they use these ad units.
“Don’t just add video players everywhere. Strategically integrate them in ways that both engage users and generate revenue,” Bannister said. “Prioritize your audience’s experience and understand how they use your property.”