AOL Video has grown its audience by betting on aggregation, syndication and original programming. At the Beet.TV executive retreat earlier this month, we heard from Charles Gabriel, VP for Video Sales at AOL, in an interview Ashley Swartz, CEO and Founder of Furious Minds, about AOL’s strategy with video, ads and targeting.
AOL works with more than 1,000 content partners and also creates its own video programming. About 73 million unique viewers each month watch more than 700 million video streams, he says. With that kind of reach and breadth, AOL is able to sell to advertisers based on reach, as well as audience buying attributes and via sponsorships, Gabriel explains. “If you are going to buy against audience behavior, we do that, and we also have very focused custom programs,” he says, adding that AOL has worked with marketers like GMC on custom content. In addition, marketers can buy around keywords, events or even by season. An advertiser could, for instance, buy spots that run in front of some of the holiday-themed content in AOL’s 500,000-video library.
“We believe video should complement everyone’s text and search experience across the Web,” he says.
Daisy Whitney
Disclosure: Beet Media has a commercial, syndication agreement with AOL.
