All of us are watching network and prosumer Internet video consumption explode on the Web. Yet, despite collaboration among many members of the media ecosystem and the Internet Advertising Bureau to create a comprehensive set of guidelines and standards for in-video advertising and make the promise of broadband-delivered and interactive video a reality, every publisher still has its own video player implementation. On top of that, there's a variety of downloaded players that support both streaming content and locally played content.

I talk with marketers and agencies on a daily basis. While some are experiencing success in their online video campaigns, there are plenty that are still in the learning stage. Therefore, in the spirit of education, let's take the most common and prevalent format -- pre-roll -- and walk through some best practices that are consistently employed by successful marketers.

In the non-digital age, we knew that half of all the advertising that ran didn't work. In the non-digital age, agencies were paid well regardless how feeble or magnificent their efforts. If an ad didn't work, agencies blamed many factors. Not surprisingly, the creative itself was seldom on the top of the list. In the Digital Age, all this changes. Especially when it comes to video.

As the word "recession" proliferates across the media, companies inevitably look to cut spending to stay competitive. However, in their hurry to get financially lean and mean, brands must not forget the importance of having a strong and dynamic online presence beyond a few pay-per-click text ads. One of the best (and cheapest) ways to meaningfully engage with potential and current customers is through online video. With the ubiquitous nature of Internet video, the ad industry has been slowly moving to the Web to meet the demand of a rising audience. According to recent research from comScore, 75% of Internet …

Given the adoration heaped on ad networks over the last few years, the natural swing of the media pendulum has brought some naysaying stories to our attention. Yet just as quickly as they appeared, news extolling the strengths of ad networks has leapt back to the fore. Why? While some of the negative pundits and bloggers seem to have overlooked the underlying value of ad networks, the inherent benefits that standard banner ad networks deliver is even further amplified for the video format.

Aren't you glad you bought a mobile phone? How do you use it? You wouldn't happen to actually be talking to someone, would you? Because there are an ever-increasing number of companies and relationships that are hoping that you don't want to do something as mundane as communicating by voice with another person.

For most brand advertisers, success is ultimately measured after the completion of an advertising campaign -- often much later. Depending on the nature of the product or service (for example, a movie premiere vs. a CPG product launch being at the two extremes), it can take time to measure market share gains, units sold and so on. Online video can be an interesting testing ground for brands due to the variety of interaction rates available, providing an early snapshot or preview on the branding effect.