The online video world is hurtling quickly in two directions: targeting and real-time buying. Real-time video buying is on track to comprise nearly 25% of online video ad spend next year, and already we're seeing positive results from a range of real-time campaigns.

"We want to go viral!" We've all heard that cry, In the age of YouTube and social media, it's arguably the number-one thing that marketers concern themselves with when creating video content for mass consumption. What do the best viral content creators have in common? Often, they're not all trying to create viral content -- it just happens, because it's good. Here's the other big dirty secret to keep in mind: Not all brands are built to create viral content. No matter how hard they try, some brands just can't do it.

We all know that content consumption is changing, that video is converging across screens, and that younger people care less about where and how they consume their favorite content. But traditional TV is still the dominant media force today, crushing everything by a country mile in terms of scale, reach, and sustainable cultural currency. Which is why as TV ratings drop, and cord-cutting increases, we continue to search for how TV will evolve. But what do we even mean when we say "TV"?

Of late, we've heard a very vocal minority complain about YouTube's value proposition to content creators.A simple Google search can yield what kind of revenue split and what kind of CPMs YouTube channels can expect. Without a doubt, it's not ideal. But the bottom line is that when you consider all of the moving parts that are required to come together to produce, publish and syndicate content, YouTube is arguably the best ROI option out there.

Sure, the online video ad market is growing like crazy, with the latest statistics citing the market as slated to hit $4.6 billon next year, up from $3.6 billion this year. But you get what you pay for -- because some of that money is being thrown away. Video ad management platform Vindico has estimated that as much as 30% to 40% of video ad impressions are fraudulent or poor quality, and in a study released this week it specifically reports than major media sites outperform ad exchanges in the number of quality placements by two to one.

Programmatic is officially the video ad tech buzzword of the year. But if you take a look at an ad trade publication or attend an industry conference, you'll notice much of the conversation is weighted towards publishers. Tips, strategies and plans for getting the sell-side to move faster abound, and rightly so. It's no secret that the digital video industry has faced a supply scarcity problem for some time now. Consumers continue to seek online video in an ever-expanding array of places and destinations, yet for a variety of reasons publishers still aren't meeting the demand. But the responsibility weighs …

None of us get to pick which set-top box we want or which interface we like. But Microsoft, Roku, Apple, LG, Sony, Samsung, with its recent acquisition of Boxee, and countless other connected TV platforms are giving consumers some element of choice. What impact will the continued adoption of these devices have on the consumption trends of traditional and digital video sources? Will more online video sources finally break into the TV? Content is undoubtedly the key factor influencing consumption, and recent months have shown us that original programming isn't just for big nets.

In 2007, before the economic apocalypse stopped everything in its tracks, the ad tech industry witnessed a bevy of acquisitions in the broader display ecosystem: RightMedia, BlueLithium, Doubleclick, aQuantive all got acquired. After we realized the world would not implode and corporate development activity resumed, there was an expectation that we would see a return of M&A among display ad networks -- but let's face it, that's simply not happened.

We all know consumers will -- well, usually -- sit through ads to watch videos and TV shows. But how far-reaching is their appetite for paying for content?

here is a growing trend of brands becoming publishers, investing in creating engaging content - a trend also recently supported by Google. Videos created by a brand will be different from a 30-second spot, or even a 60-second advertorial that can run before a video. Brands will create the actual content: stories the brands wish to tell. These videos will usually be part of an overall content strategy where the videos will speak to some targeted audience, sparking awareness, educating interest, and even discovering potential buyers out there in the measurable and quantifiable (wonderful) Internet.