• by Shankar Gupta , June 12, 2006

Text link advertising firm Vibrant Media has begun serving streaming video into its IntelliTXT mouse-over ad units, the company will announce today. With the new feature, marketers are able to link video ads to specific keywords that appear in the editorial content on publishers' sites.

IntelliTXT links the terms that marketers have selected in a publisher's site in green--and when users mouse over the terms, a small ad unit appears, with copy and a hyperlink to the advertiser's site or product page. For example, Apple might select "portable device" on a tech site; when users mouse over that term, a video ad for an iPod would appear.

"The way we operate is allowing no advertising clutter at all until the user chooses to mouse over," said Vibrant Media CEO Doug Stevenson. "We're tapping into the excitement of TV advertisement, tying it to the power of contextual targeting," he said.

In January 2005, the company added the capability to include small logos with the units, and last month, began quietly testing the streaming video units with marketers including Microsoft, Ford, Intel, Warner Brothers, and Nike. Vibrant's publisher partners include sites like IDG, IGN, and iVillage.

The video begins loading and playing in a small window when the user mouses over the highlighted text, and the sound volume gradually grows, muting immediately if the user moves his mouse away. The ads are still pay-per-click, however, and the advertiser is not billed per-video stream.