Balancing Ad Opportunities and Seamless User Experience in Live-Stream Environments

Live-streaming platforms are a three-pronged endeavor that is a careful coordination of content creation, context, and user experience. Streaming platforms and advertisers can build trust with streamers, by embracing the power of authenticity and understanding the nuance of audience preferences.

As live-streaming platforms continue to revolutionize the digital landscape, maintaining a strong and unique user experience, and the wisdom to understand the audience's needs. Ad agencies have recognized the significance of authenticity and quality, on streaming platforms, for a good while now. Some agencies have advised their clients to steer video ad campaigns away from certain streaming platforms third-party sites due to concerns about quality. Streaming platforms need to offer a seamless and high-value experience to users. That is essential for building trust for streamers, and confidence for marketers. Social media management company Unbox Social notes in a guide to live-streaming that, “the main reason why livestreaming has gained such momentum is that it is free from any edits and this makes it more authentic. Live streams are more like crowd pullers and can help you reach a large audience base on social media platforms.”

With user experience in mind, live-streaming platforms need to better manage ad frequency and length, which has emerged as a significant concern. Interruptive and disruptive ads can negatively impact the overall viewing experience, leading to user dissatisfaction. Live-streaming platforms need to strike a balance between canned content for ad revenue, and providing a smooth, less disruptive viewing experience. Platforms need to continue to explore innovative ad formats and better manage ad frequency to maintain viewer engagement and satisfaction. This ties back into previous posts on the BSI blog concerning the vital role of context in brand safety. As Ippolita Magrone wrote last year in Medium, “If a particular video gets picked up and shared, it can get huge distribution extremely quickly. This can be problematic for advertisers, as they lack the opportunity to truly understand exactly what it is they’re being associated with.” She goes on to say, “Video does change things for brand safety because it is computationally far more complex to process and understand than text.”

To learn more about developments in brand safety as it relates to gaming and live entertainment, visit the BSI blog. To read more on brand suitability, and to hear more from industry professionals, check out all that Brand Safety Institute has to offer. From Brand Safety Officer, Brand Safe Workforce, and Brand Safe Business Partner certifications, to industry events and updated research, BSI has a wealth of knowledge to share. Don’t forget, we’re only a few months away from Brand Safety Week and the Brand Safety Summit, founded in partnership by BSI and GARM.