The apparent shortage of premium video inventory against which brands can advertise is being driven in part by insufficient verification for who is really watching what, says one ad exec at the sharp end.
Group M data unit Xaxis' audience strategy manager Evan Hanlon blames "shortage" partly on the "lack of our ability to verify the premium nature of so much inventory that's out there".
Measuring the "viewability" of videos (whether they are really being watched by people) has become a key topic for efficiency-hungry advertisers.
"In the TV world, if the people who you pay to reach don't see it, you don't pay for it," Hanlon tells Beet.TV. "We have had to adapt to that online.
"Verifying that they're a human at all is a very important element of those solutions. The cost of verification justifies itself by reducing wasted money you're spending."
The problem is more pronounced online than in TV since digital media fragment attention spans, says Hanlon, who says Xaxis is working with Videology and other vendors to advance technology solutions.
Hanlon was interviewed by Furious Minds CEO Ashley Swartz at Beet.TV's TV Programmatic Summit, hosted at Xaxis and presented by Videology.
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