• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 16, 2011

Feeling that there is significant runway in establishing free VOD as an advertising platform, tech provider BlackArrow and the 4As trade group are teaming up. Tabbed the Advanced Advertising Media Project (AAMP), the initiative has launched with a study of perceptions among industry leaders about multiple aspects of VOD.

A next phase will include consumer research about the impact of VOD ads versus linear TV. It will also address which products do best when advertised on the platform, which programs generate the most consumer interest and what types of advertising are most effective -- pre- or mid-roll, or some sort of longer sponsored vignettes.

BlackArrow helps serve dynamic advertising insertion within on-demand programming, which can allow the swapping in and out of spots while a show remains available. That would prevent a pre-roll spot for GM remaining in a stream and growing stale.

AAMP is also interested in potentially finding an industry standard for measuring VOD that advertisers and sellers can use.

The effort is aimed at answering: "How do you bring this new advertising asset to market?" said BlackArrow President Nick Troiano.

Other AAMP participants are A&E Television Networks, CBS, Comcast, Digitas, Discovery Communications, Horizon Media, tech provider NDS (which works with BlackArrow) and Rainbow Media. Coalition members are sharing funding equally, said Troiano.

4As Executive Vice President Mike Donahue cited potential in VOD ads in "opt-in" programming that brings higher engagement. "Free VOD is basically appointment television on steroids," he said. "It's not just one night, it's every night."

Programmers such as A&E and Discovery are involved in AAMP as they search for a way to turn their VOD offerings into a material revenue stream. "The challenge of free VOD has always been monetization," Troiano said.

Comcast, for its part, stands to benefit in revenue sharing, along with programmers with ad dollars in VOD, Troiano said. Donahue suggested robust VOD ad models will "encourage the cable guys to make it easier" for VOD advertising to thrive.