A new pilot program from Charter Communication will give advertisers more control over their placements by letting them switch spots in and out of VOD programming.

Initially, the program is being tested to deliver dynamic ad serving with two sites that Charter carries on its cable system, Vehix.com (a car site) and Hollywood.com's Hollywood.com Television, Ad Age reports. Charter says this is the first trial run for the technology, which had previously been tested in a lab environment only.

The program will help to simplify what has been a cumbersome process. VOD ad standards can vary by cable operator, set-top box manufacturer and VOD technology provider; also, ads have to be inserted into VOD content 60-70 days ahead of time, and once in they can't be dynamically swapped in or out.

The ability to switch ads in VOD becomes much more relevant for advertisers, considering how measurable ad viewing in the medium is. "I can tell whether a viewer saw the ad or if they fast-forwarded through it and I can optimize now, hitting a viewer with a similar message or a follow up message or give them a different offer," says Maria Mandel, partner-exec director of digital innovation, OgilvyInteractive.

"We're moving toward a much more consumer centric, consumer-controlled model… but we have to crawl before we run and in the short term it's about evolving the model we have today," she is quoted as saying.