BrightRoll is offering an audience guarantee to advertisers for ads that they run on the BrightRoll network. Under the program, called TAG, for Total Audience Guarantee, digital video advertisers only have to pay for the impressions that reach their target audiences.

Bridging the Gap Between TV and Online Video

BrightRoll sees TAG as an important factor as it seeks to capture some portion of TV budgets because it offers advertisers some certainty in the audiences they reach. The program informs advertisers how many impressions will reach target audiences before the campaign begins. It then rolls out at scale. comScore's AdEffx Campaign Essentials serves as the verification provider.

Two Trends

TAG sits at the intersection of two trends in the online ad space. One, the tools for online ad verification, including online video ads, are proliferation.  Two, more providers are willing to experiment with the the cost-per-action online ad model.

Last December YouTube launched its TrueView ad format, which lets users skip ads they don't want to see - and only charges advertisers when the viewer has actually watched the ad. The product comes with a countdown button lets users skip the ad after it plays for five seconds - TrueView Video Ads - InStream. Later, in some cases, advertisers can offer viewers a choice of three pre-roll options to watch.

Google says early results suggest view-through rates of 20-70%.