Brightcove Gives a Lift to Ad-Blocking With Server-Side Insertion

The rise of ad-blocking software is the current scourge of the online advertising industry, but video cloud services company Brightcove has introduced a solution. The newly announced Brightcove Lift helps publishers deliver a smoother viewing experience while defeating video ad blockers.

Brightcove Lift uses server-side ad insertion to stitch video content and ads together at the source, resulting in an uninterrupted TV-like stream that bypasses ad blockers. Viewers simply enjoy the pause- and buffer-free viewing experience. Brightcove reports that companies testing Brightcove Lift have seen up to a 50 percent increase in video ads delivered per video start.

Brightcove Lift offers dynamic ad insertion and works with many popular ad servers, including DFP, Freewheel, SpotX, and LiveRail. Lift supports IAB VAST ad specifications.

"SSAI (server-side ad insertion) is a good first step to combat the growing practice of ad blocking," says Paul Verna, a senior analyst at eMarketer. "In the simplest terms, attaching the ad to the content in a way the blocker can't detect ensures that the ad is delivered to the end-user. But SSAI by itself is only a technical fix to a problem that demands more complex solutions. Ultimately, the best way to discourage people from using ad blockers is to deliver a top-notch experience. That's the part that too many publishers, marketers, and tech firms have overlooked, so it's important that they zero in on it."

Brightcove Lift is available now.

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net