Convenience wins. Online viewing is popular because it's easy. Sure, binge-watching, commercial skipping and a lower cost are nice, but more than half of online video viewers say they watch TV on the Web because they can watch shows when they want.

If you haven't been keeping up with the news regarding cross-platform video buying, it really is time to take note. Cross-platform buying is on the rise and here to stay. So what can you do as a publisher or marketer to take advantage of this growing opportunity? Before anything else, we as an industry need to nail the basics.

Alright, already. I know that mobile video is the next big thing. I get it. The volume of mobile video consumption and the rate of growth make the hockey stick look like a plateau. There are virtually no digital video networks with mobile usage lower than 30%, and some upwards of 70%. So why isn't anyone doing anything really cool or transformative with it?

Keep your eyes on the game console. Well, a lot of consumers are doing just that: watching the gaming console. About 46% of broadband homes in the U.S. have a gaming console connected to the Web, and more than one quarter use it as their primary connected consumer electronics device. About three-quarters of those who rely on the gaming console as the main screen say they regularly use it to watch non-gaming content such as online video.

Finding a way to unleash the power of video in social can be essential to your brand's long-term success. In fact, according to Cisco, social video will account for 69% of consumer Internet traffic by 2017. However, cracking the code to video success on social networks can be mind-boggling: from allocating budgets to measuring results, to finding the right audience on the right platforms. So what might be helpful for you to know before your next campaign? Here are some tips to help you win in one of the most competitive advertising landscapes.

While more and more brands are beginning to embrace campaign crowdsourcing, creatives are growing wary of what may prove to be a very lopsided deal.

Cats versus dogs: It's a long-held rivalry. While dogs, for the most part, by sheer size can take cats in real life, and many people prefer dogs to cats, given the feline tendency to be a little icy, it's a cat's world online. Things are different for branded video, though.

If you need any more evidence that mobile video is the future, here's this new nugget - as tablet ownership grows, so does tablet mobile viewing.