SkipQuest Ad Tech Makes Skipped Ads More Effective Than Completed Ads

SkipQuest Ad Tech Skip Feature Engagement Solution Lifts Ad and Brand Recall by 3-5X

LOS ANGELES – Ad Revenue Solutions, Inc. has announced the launch of SkipQuest, a patent-pending API ad tech engagement solution.  The integration solves the fundamental problem of users not actively paying attention to video ads. SkipQuest users can skip ads only by correctly answering a custom question related to the ad or advertiser.  Correctly answering the question immediately initiates the skip.  This format turns passive, disengaged viewers into motivated, hyper-focused viewers. Data from a large, third-party survey company indicates that brand lift/recall is increased by three to five times. SkipQuest effectively delivers advertiser messaging nearly 100% of the time.  CEO Alan Hirsch made the announcement.

“It’s not overstated to say that viewers watch ads reluctantly.  Ads are an intrusion.  Most of the time, consumers cannot wait to get past them or are certainly not focused on them.  SkipQuest leverages the common skip button that requires only a  “mindless” click of the skip button. Instead of users being focused on the ads, users are focused on the skip button, which is a major challenge for advertisers. We know that viewers will gladly trade their attention for time. Our advertisers can spoon-feed their messaging through their custom question(s) and come away with valuable data,“ Hirsch said. 

Advertisers can use SkipQuest to improve existing campaigns and get more value from their video ad buys and inventory. The results are also a big win for publishers, who can now offer their ad partners targeted, custom video ad messaging that generates measurable viewer engagement and insightful data. With the diminishing trend of cookies, publishers can offer more value and data from the ads they serve.

EXPLAINER VIDEOS:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C1QWofW8-FxlTC60igOwYxmm54K0ahyT/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kH6b_LJ8MerfyKyBORyBjZSlk6HH7PSf/view?usp=sharing

In general, brand messaging is often lost with most viewers, and recall of specific messaging is very low. When given the option, viewers tend to skip most video ads as soon as possible, producing little value for the viewer or advertiser. At best, ads are viewed passively by disengaged and unmotivated users waiting for an ad to end. At worst, video ads are not noticed within many commonly used video formats and environments, such as autoplay, muted, and below the fold.  In any case, advertisers pay for these impressions. Research varies, but viewers tend to skip between sixty to ninety percent of skippable online video ads.

Even when forced to complete a non-skippable ad, viewer interaction is passive and disengaged.  Skipped ads, low recall, and limited interaction are fundamental flaws in the current ad model. Yet despite this inefficiency, advertisers are spending $30 billion and growing on traditional online video ads. Typically, two-thirds of advertisers’ digital marketing budget goes to video ads.  YouTube video ad revenue was approximately $15 billion in 2019, and three out of four advertisers plan to increase their video ad spend. 

SkipQuest’s message-driven ad format rewards attention. It changes viewers from being disconnected and passive to active and hyper-focused.  It generates three to five times more recall than traditional completed views and a ten times higher engagement rate than the average industry standard overlay. Increased interaction equals increased value on ad spend. Because the video ad engagement is entirely optional and viewer initiated, viewers display an unusual willingness to engage with the ads, resulting in an overall better user experience. This eliminates backlash for brands and publishers. 

SkipQuest’s simple integration technology allows advertisers to easily upload ads into the backend and create custom ad questions. The questions can be created from the distilled messaging that the advertiser is trying to get across in an ad or campaign.  In addition to increased brand engagement, SkipQuest provides insightful, detailed data to help advertisers better understand their video advertising effectiveness.

The gains for advertisers are immediate. For virtually the same ad spend, advertisers using SkipQuest can unlock more interaction, engagement, and data from existing budgets.  Advertisers only pay for actual viewer engagements. They can turn any video ad campaign into a data-gathering focus group in real-time.

For publishers, the interaction and engagement SkipQuest enables the media platform to increase its value with higher CPMs for video inventory. Publishers can offer ad agencies and advertisers valuable data on ad perception, competitive analysis, and market research, in addition to confirmed engagement and increased recall.  Brands will instantly determine their video ad campaigns’ success using demographics, brand awareness, viewer perception, and time until correct answer and incorrect assumptions. 

In a recent beta phase case study,* on average, a control group recalled specific ad messages correctly only 10% of the time. Users who saw ads using the SkipQuest format answered questions correctly 50% of the time, a 500% increase in recall. Specifically, after watching an ad for a major communications carrier that mentions “lines start at just $35 a month,” users correctly recalled the $35 number just 5.8% of the time. Using the SkipQuest format, the results were 62% message recall.

About Ad Revenue Solutions, Inc.
Co-founded by Alan and Gabe Hirsch, Ad Revenue Solutions, Inc is a unique ad engagement optimization and data company. ARS’s patent-pending ad tech solutions help advertisers unlock the full value of their video advertising media spend.