The biggest hurdles publishers face in monetizing digital video

Just about every publisher is pouring money into developing digital video, and it’s easy to see why: It’s the fastest growing format of the non-mobile display-related market, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, growing 17 percent to $3.3 billion from $2.8 billion in 2014. Other formats are flat or up in the single digits. But those are hard-earned dollars, as publishing executives know. At Digiday’s Publishing Summit in Miami this week, we rounded up some of them to ask: What’s your biggest challenge in monetizing video? In short, too many agencies are still trying to recycle their 30-second TV ads for the desktop and mobile. There are viewability requirements to be satisfied. What works for the advertiser often results in a bad user experience. Here are their answers in their own words, edited for clarity:

Austin Wignall, vp, ad product strategy, Fox Sports
Getting 30-second spots from advertisers. We have content that is 30 seconds or under 30 seconds, whether that’s editorial or league highlights. That is great for mobile, but the tariff you pay to watch it is equal. Our users are still willing to put up with that tax. But it’s about us wanting to deliver a better user experience. Getting platform-specific content is supremely important. We’re facing the challenge of missing out on the revenue or accepting a mass-market spot.