Add Vertical / Social-Style Video Demand

How to measure net new revenue against user experience impact for a vertical video unit. 1. Split-test the unit. Start on 10% of traffic, go to 50% if it holds, then roll out. (Aditude, ST-028) 2. Judge it on session RPM and revenue per session, not page RPM. (Clickio, ST-029) 3. Watch the audience side at the same time: videos per user, average watch time and page-load impact. (Kyle Orr, Minute, ST-024) 4. Net it out. Take the added revenue, then subtract platform and vendor fees, production and rights costs, sales and technology costs, and the revenue it displaced from existing units.

From Beeler.Tech

Keep in mind: Assembled by Beeler.Tech. Not yet run by a publisher.

Put vertical players on home pages and section fronts.

From Kyle Orr, SVP of Business Development, Minute (Minute Media), Beeler.Tech

Status: Done. Done by Minute. "Worked well," no numbers.

"Find a partner who will run structured head-to-head tests and optimize against live data as they go."

From Kyle Orr, SVP of Business Development, Minute (Minute Media), Beeler.Tech

Judge video on audience metrics. "RPU rather than RPM. Average watch time and videos per user. Page-load impact, because a player that costs you Core Web Vitals is costing you the audience you just built."

From Kyle Orr, SVP of Business Development, Minute (Minute Media), Beeler.Tech

On Mediavine: export the social video at its native 9:16 and upload it in the dashboard like any other video. No other settings are needed. It shows in a square sticky player on mobile and in full 9:16 on desktop. Start with one video and check how it performs.

From Mediavine, Mediavine blog

Keep in mind: Applies to Mediavine publishers only.

On JWX: install the vertical video product with one line of JavaScript, then A/B test vertical video against other video and non-video formats with its Strategy Rules product.

From JWX, JWX press release

Keep in mind: The vendor's own description. Applies to JWX customers.

Put the vertical video unit high on the article page, after the second paragraph.

From Mark Howard, COO, Time, Digiday

Status: Done. Done by Time. No video-specific result reported.

Bundle on-site vertical video inventory with franchise sponsorships that already include off-site video.

From Mark Howard, COO, Time, Digiday

Status: Done. Done by Time, with Person of the Year and Time 100. No result reported.

Have editors curate the vertical feed. Do not personalize it.

From Solana Pyne, director of video, The New York Times, Press Gazette

Status: Done. Done by the Times. It cites completion and reach, no revenue.

Let brands reuse their social video creative, so campaigns can launch "within 48 hours."

From Joy Robins, global chief advertising officer, The New York Times, INMA Advertising Initiative blog

Test video players across devices, geos and session lengths. Some yield strategies perform better on short mobile sessions, others on longer desktop ones.

From Jacob Uzana, VP of Operations, EX.CO, Beeler.Tech

Keep in mind: About video players in general, not vertical alone.

To test a new ad setup: start on 10% of traffic. If results are positive, scale to 50%, then roll the winner out to all traffic. Compare the control and test groups on revenue per session, session RPM, eCPM, viewability and fill rate.

From Josh Robins, Aditude, Aditude blog

Keep in mind: About ad testing in general, not vertical video. Does not say how long to run a test.

Judge a layout change on session RPM: total revenue divided by sessions, times 1,000. Page RPM "does not consider the negative influence a change in user experience could have on the number of page views."

From Alexander Azarov, Clickio, Clickio blog

Keep in mind: Written in 2018. Page updated in 2023.

"Vertical players have worked well for us on home pages and section fronts, outstream performs on pages with longer dwell times, and instream or accompanying-content players do well as featured media inside articles."

From Kyle Orr, SVP of Business Development, Minute (Minute Media), Beeler.Tech

Keep in mind: No numbers given.

20 Minuten launched "20 Minuten Shorts," a vertical video feed inside its app, on May 11, 2026. It runs about 30 videos a day, curated by editors, with a team of four. The build took about six months and included several user tests. Vertical video ads and display ads were available at launch, with no pre-roll before clips.

From Mark Luxenhofer, Product Manager Video, and Basil Honegger, Head of Video News, 20 Minuten, persoenlich.com

Keep in mind: No usage or revenue figures published. Source is in German.

Time runs its "Bytes" vertical videos on nearly every article page, after the second paragraph on most articles. It built Bytes with Media.net and also sells the inventory direct.

From Mark Howard, COO, Time, Digiday

Keep in mind: Paraphrased from a members-only article.

Time's video ads sell at a premium of 25 to 40% over standard display CPMs.

From Mark Howard, COO, Time, Digiday

Keep in mind: The company's own figure. Covers video ads, not vertical alone. Paraphrased from a members-only article.

The New York Times planned to open its Watch tab to brands "as part of an open beta test for vertical video advertising by early 2026."

From Joy Robins, global chief advertising officer, The New York Times, Nieman Lab

Keep in mind: A plan as of November 2025. Whether the beta launched is not confirmed.

The Economist says vertical video viewing in its app "has more than doubled in the last year." Its video tab supports its subscription business, not ad revenue.

From Liv Moloney, head of video, The Economist, Nieman Lab

Keep in mind: No figures given.

The New York Times says video viewing across its platforms more than doubled in a year, to nearly 200 million minutes in September 2025.

From The New York Times, INMA Advertising Initiative blog

Keep in mind: The company's own figure. Covers all video, not vertical alone.

"An aggressive video ad strategy gives a tempting short-term boost, though rarely a sustainable one." The return comes down to the value the player creates: a below-the-fold outstream player is worth something very different from a relevant player placed high in the article.

From Kyle Orr, SVP of Business Development, Minute (Minute Media), Beeler.Tech

On 2026-07-01, a publisher in the Beeler.Tech community said vertical video is likely the bigger revenue opportunity, but it carries a much higher opportunity cost.

From Beeler.Tech community (one publisher), RevenueScape Bracket Poll

"The real challenge is not developing a vertical video player." The hard part is an experience built for short content.

From Mark Luxenhofer, Product Manager Video, 20 Minuten, persoenlich.com

Keep in mind: Translated from German.

Vertical video is how people consume content now, and more time on site can open more inventory.

From Brian Binder, Tinuiti, Digiday

Keep in mind: A buy-side view. Paraphrased from a members-only article.

Video ads are a key growth area for the Times, but the right format is still unclear.

From Tusar Barik, advertising, The New York Times, Digiday

Keep in mind: Paraphrased from a members-only article.

"We're not trying to be TikTok." "We think our core differentiator is editorial curation."

From Solana Pyne, director of video, The New York Times, Nieman Lab

"So let's try to be where they are." Newsday wants readers who shift to video to keep getting their news from Newsday.

From TC McCarthy, VP of digital development, Newsday, Nieman Lab

"Another major trend to watch is the rise of vertical video." Publishers need video platforms that support vertical formats and keep improving how they are delivered and monetized on owned sites.

From Jacob Uzana, VP of Operations, EX.CO, Beeler.Tech

In 2023 there was "no difference in CPMs" for vertical video on the web, "relatively little" programmatic demand for it, and no standard programmatic bidding process.

From Shachar Orren, co-founder and CMO, EX.CO, Digiday

Keep in mind: From 2023. Sponsored content.

Building a video strategy publishers can own, with Minute's Kyle Orr. Covers where video economics break down, which formats belong where, and which metrics to judge video on.

From Beeler.Tech (Minute Media)

Media Briefing: Publishers turn to vertical video to compete with creators and grow ad revenue in 2026. Digiday's report on Time, CNN, The New York Times and others.

From Digiday

Keep in mind: Digiday+ members only.

News publishers embrace vertical video with in-app "watch" tabs. Nieman Lab's report on the video tabs at The New York Times, The Economist and Newsday.

From Nieman Lab

What publishers should really ask when choosing an OVP. An interview with EX.CO's Jacob Uzana on how to evaluate video players.

From Beeler.Tech (EX.CO)