With streaming rates increasing every day, many brands are introducing video ads online to their multi-platform marketing campaigns. In January alone, U.S. viewers watched roughly 9.1 billion video ads on the web, with time spent watching these clips adding up to 3.5 billion minutes, according to comScore.

Faced with these numbers – which increase every month – advertising agencies and brands are funneling more of their budgets into digital marketing, with video as a major focus. Publishers are getting a major boost from the phenomenon, which is why they should consider improving their site's capabilities to allow for more online video advertising.

Snazzy new products
Last month, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) revealed the winners of its Digital Video Rising Stars competition. Companies like Starcom MediaVest Group, Ogilvy, Digitas, Rosetta and CBS Interactive submitted tools aimed at improving video ad reach. The winning items included:

Filmstrip is "a scrollable, multipanel, horizontal unit" that can contain an extensive amount of advertising content. IAB states the tool was selected because it offers brands a variety of flexible ad options to choose from and gives users complete control over their viewing experience.

An Ad Control Bar is located above the user's player controls and lets consumers interact with ad content during a show or movie. By using the tool, audience members can engage with brands in several ways without disrupting the video.

TimeSync places promotional content over video footage and changes in accordance with whatever is happening in the show or movie. Ads related to the user's viewing preferences appear on cue, allowing for marketers to better target consumers.

The Extender, which allows users to continue watching ads, provides consumers with the "opportunity for deep video engagement, with permission," the IAB stated.

The final competition winner was Full Screen. After a user watches a video, the user can choose to fill the video player screen with different ways to interact further with the brand, like watching more ads and connecting with social media pages. Full Screen gives the user an immersive experience that is completely in their control.

Some common trends among these products are interactivity and user consent. These items respect the consumer's need to watch content with minimal disruptions. Rather than bombarding audience members with unrelated, annoying content, these tools make brand communications a symbiotic part of the online video viewing experience.

"The dynamic fusion of sight, sound and motion plus interactivity offers marketers an unbeatable package," said Peter Minnium, head of brand initiatives at IAB. "To date, too little of digital video advertising has included an interactive component, owing to a lack of standards."