As of March 2013 mobile viewing accounted for over 10% of all video hours watched online, and it’s on the rise. In just one year the percent of smartphone owners who reported watching online video at least once a month increased from 20% to 40%.
Ever wonder how videos go viral? Well mobile sharing might just be the answer. Originally thought of as a solitary and lonely action, users who view videos on mobile may actually be more socially connected. 92% of mobile video viewers share those videos with others.
There are now 73 million mobile video viewers and this number is expected to rise into the billions in the next three years. Mobile video is becoming the mass preferred method for video viewing.
Already shoppers are more likely to view a video if they are on their mobile devices over their laptops or computers. Consumers have credited online video as a vital piece of the puzzle for making purchases while shopping online.
Now the important question: If mobile video is so vital for applications, why do so many developers rely on HTML5 players that lack vital usability?
HTML5 players are useful because they are easy to create and are quick to configure with pre and post-roll video ads. But generally, this is where the features for HTML5 players end.
Compare this to a native media player that is built for cross device and OS compatibility. The native player can adhere to all video regulations for advertising: VAST, VMAP, and OBA Self-Regulation. Compliance in addition to mid-roll video ads, every type of ad overlay and bumper, along with clickable advertisements should make the native player a mobile advertiser’s dream.
So again, why doesn’t everyone just use a native video player for their app? Well, until now the power of mobile ads had not been realized. We now have a better understanding that mobile advertising is more effective and welcomed by users than many other forms of online advertising, and is also more effective in creating purchase intent.
Then, native media players are time consuming to create, requiring hours of extra development time compared to the ease of integrating an HTML player. Finally, until now, there has not been an easy cheap cross-platform option on the market to license.
This problem came to the forefront for Appscend this year while building a new second screen application. Our client wanted clickable overlays and video ads for the application so we set out to find a quick cross-platform solution for our media player needs.
We searched the web as only a group of developer nerds can and to our surprise there was nothing on the market to solve our problem. Of course this means we had to create the solution on our own, and we think it came out nicely.
So nice in fact that we didn’t want to deprive the app market of such an awesome product. So we are happy to announce that our native, cross platform media player solution is now available for anyone to license so they too can update their.
You can check out what it can do here: Appscend.com/mediaplayer
If you have thoughts or questions about the product, don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail at Keary@appscend.com or to give me a call at +40-37-271-4561.
