Video Ads Propel Travel Blogging Network’s Revenue to New Heights
Lights, Camera, Conversion! Boarding Area CEO Randy Peterson’s Epic Voyage into the World of Video Advertising
Bringing up the topic of video advertising with his network of 70-plus travel bloggers was a nerve-wracking experience for Randy Petersen, owing to the unfortunate incidents he had encountered previously.
Petersen, renowned as the ‘Frequent Flyer Miles Guru,’ has amassed millions of miles through his extensive travels. He is the mastermind behind several enterprises, including Boarding Area, a blog network catering to business travelers and dedicated to the world of frequent flyer miles and points.
Reflecting on his past encounters, Petersen recollects unfortunate instances involving video advertising networks that plagued his platform with auto-play videos. This posed a significant challenge, especially considering that a substantial portion of his readers accessed the website while on flights with sluggish internet connections.
For several years, Petersen had steered clear of video advertising, opting to avoid its pitfalls altogether. However, a transformative moment arrived when he discovered EX.CO, a publisher-first solution that offered a promising avenue to involve his bloggers in the process. Intrigued by its potential, Petersen made the decision to embrace EX.CO and explore the possibilities it held for his network.
Boarding Area: Unveiling the Evolution from Glossy Pages to Digital Frontier
Boarding Zone has been a digital presence for over 25 years, and Petersen proudly identifies himself as a trailblazer in embracing emerging technologies. The platform initially emerged as a digital publication during the late 1980s, with Petersen unveiling his inaugural website, Travel Talk, in 1995.
Boarding Area has expanded into a vast network of over 70 bloggers, as stated by Petersen. These bloggers collectively produce an impressive volume of 120 content pieces every day. Petersen further highlights that the sites under his supervision generate a staggering amount of around two billion advertisements annually.
According to Petersen, Boarding Area takes care of various aspects for the bloggers, including hosting their advertisements, developing their websites, and managing the exclusive network for display advertising. Petersen reflects on the journey they have embarked on, recalling how they were once advised to pursue conventional jobs, but now find themselves in demand as people aspire to have similar positions.
Petersen credits Boarding Area’s achievement to adhering to a winning formula and refraining from venturing into different territories.
“Our focus is tightly honed – centered solely on the corporate traveler and the avid flyer,” he asserts. “Primarily emphasizing worldwide miles and loyalty points. By steadfastly remaining within our niche, our growth has been exceptional. On average, our network attracts nearly a million daily sessions.”
The maiden voyage of Boarding Area’s video advertising, unfortunately, turned out to be a catastrophic fiasco
According to Petersen, his penchant for embracing innovation led him to venture into video advertising a couple of years ago. Regrettably, the outcome was nothing short of a calamitous debacle, met with widespread disdain among the bloggers within the Boarding Area network.
He explains, “During the initial stages, video content significantly strained bandwidth, exacerbating matters by defaulting to audio playback. Consequently, it left a bitter aftertaste for many readers, hindering their overall reading experience.”
The response from the bloggers within Petersen’s network was nothing short of furious.
“After approximately three months,” he recounts, “we made the difficult decision to cease our video endeavors. The feedback pouring in from each blogger was unanimous: our readers were vehemently expressing their discontent with the intrusive videos.”
The fast-loading nature of the content published by Boarding Area was crucial due to specific circumstances. Petersen emphasizes the importance of maintaining a seamless experience for their readers, especially in situations where access to high bandwidth is limited, such as during flights or in hotel lobbies with limited connectivity. The priority is to ensure that readers can easily access and enjoy the content without any hindrances.
Once the decision was made to remove video advertisements, Petersen shifted his focus toward developing the remaining components of the advertising stack. He reflects on the past, referring to the era when video ads were still prevalent, stating that it had become a distant and unpleasant memory.
Required a video advertising solution that would uphold my reputation without causing any embarrassment
Upon Peterson’s eventual return to video advertising, he delved into the numerous pitches received from different companies in his inbox. After careful consideration, he ultimately chose EX.CO. However, Peterson observed a recurring trend among most video advertising companies – they made grand claims about substantial revenue growth. Yet, that wasn’t his primary objective from the outset.
He expressed, “My foremost concern was finding a solution that wouldn’t cause embarrassment among the bloggers. They had remarkable memories, much like elephants. The video experience lingered in their minds, and they persisted in requesting assurances that audio wouldn’t be automatically enabled.”
After engaging in a conversation with a representative from EX.CO. he was impressed by the company’s approach, particularly due to the fact that Google did not perceive the integration of EX.CO as an ad unit but rather as content. This advantageous distinction ensured that it did not disrupt the existing advertising infrastructure.
Petersen recounted, “We went through a demo, and I was genuinely pleased with what I witnessed because it genuinely revolved around content, which holds significant importance for me.”
Video advertising with a primary focus on content
The ad units provided by EX.CO prioritized content by initially displaying it based on an RSS feed from each blog and then seamlessly transitioning into a video presentation.
Petersen remarks, “I found this approach to be quite innovative. The bloggers were thrilled. They appreciated the fact that content was given prominence because it allowed readers to click on the video within the content and remain engaged within the blog. In fact, it resulted in readers delving deeper into the blog.”
According to Petersen, his loyalty to EX.CO is partly due to their exceptional customer service. In one instance, EX.CO even went the extra mile by developing a customized video player exclusively for a particular blogger, seamlessly embedded within the content itself.
Video advertisements have emerged as the primary source of revenue
EX.CO proposed a minor adjustment in Petersen’s interaction with demand partners, leading to a remarkable surge in revenues achieved by routing demand through EX.CO players. This strategic move yielded immediate success and within a few months of implementing this process, EX.CO became the top revenue channel for the entire company.
On average, the revenue per site witnessed a significant increase of 27%, accompanied by over 12 million monthly player loads. Moreover, the adoption of EX.CO’s player tripled the time users spent on Boarding Area’s network of sites, resulting in a substantial boost in dwell time.
“They contribute approximately 30% of our total revenue,” remarks Petersen. “Just two years ago, that figure was negligible. So this has been a significant benefit to our bloggers, without detracting from our regular ad stack provided by Google.”
Since transitioning to EX.CO, the issue of videos automatically playing with audio has wholly disappeared.
“We have never encountered a single video that played with audio in the millions of displays we have implemented,” affirms Petersen. “Consequently, I have successfully resolved that concern with our bloggers. In this context, video is no longer just video; it places content at the forefront, effectively resolving our problems.”
The ability to tailor content according to specific requirements held immense significance for Petersen. He needed a player capable of delivering news in multiple local languages, ranging from Korean and German to Brazilian Portuguese.
“The player has been exceptional in accommodating these languages and making exceptions,” he acknowledges.
Petersen perceives EX.CO is not only a technology company but also a customer service company, emphasizing its importance in today’s world. “And that’s definitely a good thing!” he concludes.
