YuMe Rolls Out "ACE for Advertisers" For Improved Video Ad Management

Video ad network YuMe is rolling out a new product this morning called "ACE for Advertisers" that is being positioned as an end-to-end buy side video ad management system. According to YuMe, ACE for Advertisers offers enhanced control of media planning and buying, ad trafficking and creative management, ad serving and optimization and post-campaign analytics. It can be used across online, mobile and IPTV.

ACE for Advertisers is further evidence of how the online video advertising industry is maturing, with new tools to help major brands and agencies operate at higher scale and move bigger budgets into the medium. For example, YuMe said that ACE for Advertisers allows users to buy directly from publishers by configuring their own private networks, and/or they can tap into YuMe's network of 600 publishers and/or they can use other ad networks or exchanges. In effect, if there's inventory out there to capture, YuMe wants brands and agencies to be able to reach and manage it through ACE. Targeting data from 3rd parties can also be incorporated across these networks.

YuMe's announcement comes on the heels of new research from PwC and IAB yesterday that noted that video advertising was the best-performing category of Internet advertising in the first half of 2010, up 31% to $627 million. While impressive, it's still only 5% of the market, and a minuscule percentage relative to the $60 billion/year in TV advertising.
There is a massive amount of momentum behind online video advertising, and the key to realizing its potential is for brands and agencies to have the proper tools to efficiently plan, buy, manage and evaluate online video campaigns. All of the major online video ad companies recognize this, and as with ACE for Advertisers, they are moving rapidly to bring these new buy side products to market.