Display and Video / December 05, 2016 / By Erin Martin

Goodbye VVS (Vertical Video Syndrome)

In 2011 a PSA hit the market, warning people of VVS—vertical video syndrome. The announcement pled with people to stop shooting video vertically! “Motion pictures have always been horizontal, televisions are horizontal, computer screens are horizontal, people’s eyes are horizontal…we aren’t built to watch vertical video!”...until now. To be fair, the PSA was created four years ago and a lot has changed since then.

Mobile has become the norm rather than the exception, and video continues to dominate the small screen. According to MOVR’s Mobile Overview Report, Smartphone users hold their phones vertically around 94% of the time and Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends reported that vertical viewing accounted for 29% of view time in 2015, compared to 5% just five years ago. What was once considered a disorder is now the norm, because it fits the form and function of how people hold their phones—vertically.

Still not convinced vertical video is here? Consider this:

• About 75% of people between 18 and 29 years old watch video on their smartphone (Source: Pew Research Center Report)
• Smartphone users hold their phones vertically about 94 percent of the time (Source: MOVR Mobile Overview Report)
• Millenials are 2x as likely to be focused on video they watch on their mobile devices as they are on video consumed on a TV (Source: Ooyala Global Video Index)
• Vertical video ads are watched all the way through 9 times more than horizontal video ads on Snapchat (Source: Snapchat)
• More than 7 billion video clips are viewed daily on Snapchat, the majority which are vertically filmed (Source: Snapchat)
• According to Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trends, vertical viewing now accounts for 29% of view time, compared to 5% just five years ago (Source: KPCB)

Even more evidence—the horizontal orientation does’t do Alex’s adorableness, our vp of product Justin Kistner’s son, justice. It’s called portrait mode for a reason!

To help publishers capitalize on this trend, we’re excited to announce two new vertical video ads to Mixpo’s suite of outstream products, Vertical Video Takeover and Vertical Video Reveal. The formats allow our publisher partners to easily create new ad placements for advertisers looking for mobile-friendly video ad inventory beyond social networks such as Snapchat and Facebook.

“We built the ad units to answer the rising demand for vertical storytelling, which allows people to consume video in the same way they naturally hold their device. Brands know this and have started to create more vertical video assets. More publishers are recognizing this—Facebook announced new vertical video ads in October—and have an opportunity to rethink their digital ad package for the mobile user.”
- Charlie Tillinghast, chief executive officer, Mixpo

Vertical Video Takeover and Vertical Video Reveal join Mixpo’s suite of existing outstream video ad products that give publishers a way to monetize their content with video ads outside of pre-roll.

The suite is powered by patent-pending inline technology that delivers the best outstream experience on the market, by providing the first ads with player control scrubbing options and interactive capabilities, on top of high-fidelity video.

Learn more about Mixpo’s suite of outstream video ads here.