The televised revolution continues - Twitter introduces skippable pre-roll ads

Now, those opportunities open up even further with Twitter rolling out a new feature - skippable pre-roll ads. Twitter has tested pre-roll ads for a while, but had previously placed a six-second limit on all videos, a move they made in the interests of user experience and ensuring minimal disruption to users who consume large volumes of video content through Twitter.

The new format, however, is far removed from this concept. Twitter's new pre-roll format has no time limit for video, and looks to be designed with advertisers in mind, with a secondary focus on their media partners (who provide the inventory on which these ads will be served). Nevertheless, it breaks new ground for advertisers looking to advertise on the Twitter platform.

Here's everything you need to know about the new offering:

Where will ads show?

The new video ads will be shown before videos posted by Twitter media partners. Revenue will be shared between the content creators (users posting an organic video) and Twitter, with the split believed to be 70% to content creators and 30% to Twitter. Current Twitter media partners include Buzzfeed, FOX, Techcrunch and Vox.

How long can the video ads be?

Twitter has put no limit on the duration of the video ads, although advertisers should note videos are skippable from the first second.

How does the skippable button work?

Pre-roll ads on Twitter will be skippable from the first second. Unlike with YouTube, where advertisers are not charged for skipped ads, advertisers on Twitter will be charged for any view longer than three seconds.

When can advertisers use this program?

As with all Twitter features, the pre-roll ad capabilities will roll out over time. For now, Twitter's focus is encouraging and incentivising media partners to create quality content through which they can earn revenue.

There is no doubt that the introduction of this new format for Twitter advertising opens up a new audience for video What remains to be seen is how successfully the pre-roll format and video durations integrates with Twitter's user interface and experience. With the rise of video's popularity and success, it seems like a natural progression for Twitter to invest more in this format and smart advertisers who move quickly, before the platform risks saturation, may be able to put the new offering to great advantage.

Source: http://digiday.com/platforms/twitter-now-offering-30-second-skippable-pre-roll-ads/