Riding a wave of interest in “native” ad placements, Sharethrough just debuted a service to help brands
distribute less "ad-like" video content across a range of Web sites and mobile apps.
Sharethrough Sponsored Videos, so-called, is also designed to help publishers
better monetize their properties with branded video content.
Sharethrough likens its native ad experience to Twitter’s Promoted Tweets and Facebook’s
Sponsored Stories -- which increasingly appeal to brands as consumers’ media consumption habits become more social -- but for video.
“Brands and
agencies are doubling down on video production beyond traditional 15-to-30-second ads, and there is huge demand for premium distribution of this content,” Dan Greenberg, cofounder and CEO of
Sharethrough, said Wednesday.
According to Greenberg, the new platform will help publishers achieve the engagement rates that brands are looking for, not to
mention the brand lift and user experience that advertisers are experiencing on closed social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
The startup already
boasts a network of millions of blogs thanks to direct partnerships with WordPress, The Awl Network, Forbes, Thought Catalog, and other platforms.
With the help
of its partner network, Sharethrough says its new product is already on track to generate $40 million in revenue, this year.
To better hold users’
attention, Sharethrough Sponsored Videos are integrated into publishers’ existing editorial content.
The technology also allows advertisers to provide a
title, caption or other description about the video to drive higher engagement.
Citing “independent studies,” Greenberg said that Sharethrough
video placements deliver an average brand lift that is 18 times higher than traditional video ads.
Founded in 2008, Sharethrough is a privately held company
based in San Francisco, Calif.