• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 26, 2008

Adlink, which allows marketers to buy local spots in Los Angeles across three different MSOs, is starting to offer long-form VOD ads.

The "digital interconnect" has completed a test in which local spots on some 44 networks directed viewers to the longer, branded video for two marketers: a luxury automaker and a health-care company.

The VOD offerings were housed within each MSO's on-demand section. Time Warner, Charter and Cox all participated.

"In a market served by three cable operators, it made sense to streamline the On Demand ad buy for advertisers trying to reach the entire Los Angeles footprint," said Hans Fischmann, general manager of advanced media for Charter.

The test ran during the fourth quarter. The automaker's spots ran on 22 of the 44 networks and drove viewers to a menu, where they could select from a series of 10 on-demand videos. Adlink said those accounted for 4,500 views over four weeks.

A health-care marketer used all 44 networks to direct viewers to three videos about healthy living, which encouraged them to visit a Web site. That effort ran for three months and yielded 13,391 views and 1,008 hours of viewing for an average of five-and-a-half minutes per view, Adlink said.

Adlink did not provide the name of either marketer.

Adlink offers advertisers the opportunity to reach nearly 3 million homes via local spots on top-tier cable networks, such as ESPN and MTV. Advertisers that used it include GM, McDonald's and Coors.