Sharethrough Introduces Sponsored Videos, a Native Video Ad Solution for Publishers

New platform takes native advertising beyond Facebook, Twitter and other major content platforms and makes it available to the rest of the web

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Sharethrough

Sep 26, 2012, 10:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sharethrough, the native video advertising company, today announced the launch of Sharethrough Sponsored Videos, a platform that enables web and mobile publishers to integrate premium native video ad placements into their existing content experience. The Sharethrough platform allows publishers to monetize their site or mobile app with branded video content delivered through a native ad experience, similar to Twitter's Promoted Tweets and Facebook's Sponsored Stories, without having to develop their own technology to do so. Current publisher partners include millions of blogs on the WordPress platform, The Awl Network, Forbes, Thought Catalog, and more.

"Most major platforms on the web -- Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, and WordPress -- have universally adopted native advertising formats. Sharethrough is now giving any media publisher the ability to replicate the success of these platforms in monetizing their content in a way that is choice-based and non-interruptive," said Dan Greenberg, cofounder and CEO of Sharethrough.

Because context is an essential element for brands to drive virality and storytelling through videos, Sharethrough Sponsored Videos are seamlessly integrated into a publisher's existing editorial content, with which the reader is already engaged. The technology allows advertisers to provide a title, caption or other description about the video to drive higher engagement. Sharethrough's platform makes it easy to match the existing layout, colors, fonts, interaction and voice of the publisher's site or app, creating a more seamless, integrated native ad experience.

Sharethrough Sponsored Videos' contextual features include:

Gallery, Grid and Feed-based placements: Sharethrough Sponsored Video placements have been optimized for popular web layouts that are quickly becoming the new standard for web publishing. Highly optimized ad units are available for grid, gallery and feed-based layouts.
Editorial Context: With Sharethrough Sponsored Videos, publishers can include a title, caption, or description surrounding the video, giving editorial context to the video's story and larger themes of each campaign.
Customizable Images: Sharethrough Sponsored Videos include fully customizable images for each video placement, balancing the visual-rich elements of rich media display advertising with the engagement of video.

"As brands continue to expand their programs to produce original content, Forbes is focused on creating better distribution streams that also add value to the user experience on the site. Sharethrough Sponsored Videos has enabled us to create an additive, revenue driving placement that is well tailored for engagement with original branded video," said Mark Howard, Senior Vice President, Digital Advertising Sales at Forbes Media.

More on Forbes Media and Sharethrough Sponsored Videos: http://youtu.be/LYVWkUeL5tc

Driving Both Views and Influence for Brands

Sharethrough Sponsored Videos drive quality viewership and brand awareness for advertisers. Sharethrough Sponsored Video placements deliver user-initiated views, guaranteeing a positive user experience, higher social engagement rates and a more engaged viewership. Additionally, Sharethrough Sponsored Videos' contextual features help brands achieve top-funnel brand lift: independent studies show that Sharethrough video placements deliver an average brand lift that is 18 times higher than traditional video ads. 50 of the top 100 brands have used Sharethrough's video offerings to drive quality viewership and brand awareness.

"Through years of working with leading advertisers on video campaigns, we designed our Sponsored Videos product to be able to meet advertisers' core goals with video. Sharethrough Sponsored Videos will enable any publisher to offer brands the engagement rates, brand lift and user experience that advertisers are experiencing on closed social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube," added Greenberg. "Brands and agencies are doubling down on video production beyond traditional 15-30 second ads, and there is huge demand for premium distribution of this content. The time for publishers to get on board is now."

About Sharethrough

Sharethrough is the leading provider of native video advertising technology solutions for brands and publishers. Fortune 1000 brands and their agencies work with Sharethrough to guarantee audiences and maximize social engagement for their original video content, and social web publishers partner with Sharethrough to create native, non-interruptive brand video placements via the Sharethrough Sponsored Videos platform. Founded in 2008, Sharethrough is a privately held company based in San Francisco, Calif. For more information about Sharethrough, please visit www.sharethrough.com.

SOURCE Sharethrough