Indian websites will now have click-to-play 30 second ads

Interactive Avenues has launched the concept of click-to-play commercials on websites in India. In an effort to diminish the boundaries between traditional and new media, it has started off with 30-second TVCs for WorldSpace Satellite Radio, General Motors and HDFC Standard Life on Indian websites.

These video ads are visible to visitors from India on relevant niche content websites such as agencyfaqs.com, mouthshut.com, moneycontrol.com, Modifiedcars, Conceptcarz and Ultimatecarpage.

It may be recalled that MSN India had recently unveiled the concept of live streaming ads, but executives at Interactive Avenues insist that this is different. The agency has brought Google’s click-to-play concept to India. While the ad on MSN India starts playing by default the moment a visitor logs on to the site, the click-to-play feature is more user initiated. Only if a person wants to see the ad, he will click on it and then the streaming version comes on the screen. This also has the option of taking a visitor to the advertiser’s website.

“Thus, these ads for our clients are entirely user initiated, user controlled and fully measurable,” says Paras Mehta, senior manager, campaign management, Interactive Avenues. “In initiatives by others, the reporting metrics available are limited, with hardly any way of measuring how many ads were actually viewed. Our platform allows for interactivity, and ensures that only those users, who are genuinely interested in the brand, click on it.”

This will obviously lead to greater accountability and a finer targeting of the TG. Users also have the option to start, stop and replay the video. Through this, Interactive Avenues can map and report impressions, video plays, average time interacted/spent and click through rates.

Ratish Nair, CEO, Interactive Avenues, comments, “Video ads, while still a nascent segment, are faster than any other aspect of online marketing as per a recent report by eMarketer. eMarketer predicts that by the end of the decade, advertisers will spend around $2 billion on video ads online.”

Rahul Marwaha, head of search, Interactive Avenues, further adds, “We saw the Google click-to-play platform as a great way for our clients to deliver a rich immersive experience to their target audience.”

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