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Video ads by channel / Pre-roll and OLV

Pre-roll and online video ads.

One film, two sound strategies: heard in the player, read in the article, seen inside two seconds.

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01

The medium

Online video bought programmatically plays in two very different places. In-stream, the ad runs inside a video player before or during content the viewer chose, and the IAB's 2026 classification paper notes that it follows the content's sound state. Out-stream, it sits between the paragraphs of an article or the posts of a feed, starts muted once half of it is in view, as ESPN's sheet for the Teads inRead unit puts it, and is heard only if someone taps.

The measurement is just as particular. The Media Rating Council counts a video ad as viewable when half its pixels are on screen for two continuous seconds, not necessarily the first two, and does not require that it was heard. The Coalition for Better Ads names pre-roll longer than 31 seconds that cannot be skipped within six, and any mid-roll in a video of eight minutes or less, as experiences that fall below its standard.

None of it is bought in an app. The film reaches the page as a VAST tag through a demand-side platform such as Display and Video 360 or Amazon DSP, each with file rules of its own.

02

The specs

Quoted from the platforms' own pages. The source and the date each was read are under the table.

PlacementRatioResolution and fileLengthSound and captionsSafe zone and rules
Display and Video 360, open-web video16:9 or 4:3; 9:16 or 3:4; square1280 x 720, 1920 x 1080 or 1440 x 1080 landscape; H.264 at 23.98 or 29.97 fps, at least 20 Mbps; uploads up to 1 GB, served files up to 10 MB15 or 30 seconds recommended; videos rotating in one creative within 10 percent of each other's length; 60 seconds or more checked with the inventory sourceAudio required: PCM preferred or AAC, at least 192 kbps, 48 kHz; minus 24 LKFS plus or minus 2No black bars or letterboxing; VAST 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0 with two wrappers at most; companions 300 x 250, 728 x 90, 300 x 60; does not apply to YouTube line items
Amazon DSP online video (OLV)16:9; 9:16 on Twitch and Amazon Publisher Direct only1920 x 1080 minimum site served (640 x 360 third-party served); H.264, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4; 23.976 fps recommended; 500 MB site served6 to 120 seconds; exactly 6, 15, 20, 30 or 60 recommendedAAC at 192 kbps (128 third-party served), 44.1 or 48 kHz, at least 2 channelsInline VAST 2.0 or 3.0; the same page also says VPAID and wrapper tags are not accepted
Out-stream, Teads inRead (ESPN's publisher sheet)16:9; 9:16 on mobile only1280 x 720 or 720 x 1280; 24 fps; under 10 MB; MP4 or VAST 2.0 and 3.0Around 60 seconds or less recommendedAutoplays muted once 50 percent of the ad is in view; audio on click onlyFive business days for testing and approval
VAST, the serving standard (IAB Tech Lab)n/aVAST 4 separates media files from verification and interactive code and adds a mezzanine file for server-side insertionThe skipoffset value sets when a skip control appears; a publisher may set a minimumn/aCurrent version VAST 4.3 (December 2022); SIMID replaces VPAID; verification through Open Measurement
Better Ads Standard, short-form video (videos of 8 minutes or less)n/aDesktop, mobile web and in-appPre-roll or pods longer than 31 seconds that cannot be skipped in the first 6 seconds fall below the standardOn desktop, video ads that play sound without a click fall below the standardMid-roll ads, and overlays in the middle third of the video or larger than 20 percent of it, also fall below it
  1. Google Display and Video 360 Help, video creative guidelines, read October 27, 2026
  2. Amazon Ads, online video (OLV) ad specs, read October 27, 2026
  3. ESPN ad specs, out-stream video, read October 27, 2026
  4. IAB Tech Lab, VAST, read October 27, 2026
  5. Coalition for Better Ads, short-form video standard, read October 27, 2026
  6. Media Rating Council, viewable ad impression guidelines v2.0, read October 27, 2026
  7. IAB, a new standard for classifying video advertising (September 2026), read October 27, 2026

The Trade Desk publishes no public online video spec and Apple News pre-roll was seen only in search snippets, so neither is in the table. Amazon's page both accepts VPAID 2 and says it does not; both are recorded. The out-stream row is a publisher's sheet for the Teads unit, because Teads' own numbers sit in a document that could not be read.

03

How we build an ad for it

Directed by people, made with AI, finished by hand. You approve the script and the sound before any footage is made.

  1. A cut for sound and a cut for silence

    In-stream follows the player's sound, so that version is written for the ear: a voice that names the brand, music under it. Out-stream starts muted and stays muted until a tap, so its version carries the message in supers and picture alone. They are two edits of one shoot, never one file asked to do both jobs.

  2. Seen inside two continuous seconds

    An out-stream unit starts when half of it is on screen and counts as viewed after two continuous seconds. The brand and the product are in frame inside that window, so the impression in the report is one in which something was actually seen, not a slow build that scrolled away.

  3. Under the Better Ads line

    Any non-skippable pre-roll we write runs thirty seconds or less, below the Coalition's 31-second line, and every version puts the brand on screen before the sixth second, where a skip control can appear. We advise against mid-roll on short videos, which the standard lists whatever the ad's length.

  4. Mixed for the player, not the feed

    Display and Video 360 asks for minus 24 LKFS plus or minus 2, the IAB's US figure, with PCM audio at 48 kHz, several decibels quieter than a typical social mix. The open-web master is mixed to that number and measured, so it does not jump out of a publisher's player.

  5. A ladder of exact lengths

    Amazon recommends exactly 6, 15, 20, 30 or 60 seconds, and Display and Video 360 wants videos that rotate in one creative within ten percent of each other's length. The six, the fifteen and the thirty are planned as separate films from one shoot, and a six never rotates against a thirty.

  6. A clean master and companions from the same frames

    No black bars, no letterbox, no slate: a high bit rate H.264 master at 23.98 or 29.97 that the platform transcodes into its own serving files, plus 300 by 250, 728 by 90 and 300 by 60 companion banners cut from the film's own frames for the players that show them.

04

Films that fit

Finished Filmito films, labeled with what each one is. Hover or tap to play.

Bosch Sanabelle, AI commercial
Bosch SanabelleBosch Sanabelle, a 20-second commercial with the product on screen from the opening seconds, the shape a skippable pre-roll needs.
Fora Financial, Brand film
Fora FinancialFora Financial, a 30-second brand film with its name spoken; the in-stream cut keeps the voice, the out-stream cut moves it into supers.
Cobra Access Control, Product film
Cobra Access ControlCobra Access Control, a 16-second product film; a six-second cut keeps the product and the name and drops the rest.

All client films

05

What to order

Programmatic video rewards variety: a fifteen and a thirty per idea, in-stream and out-stream edits of each, and fresh versions before a frequency cap starts showing one film to the same person.

One adLaunch, 15 seconds$595

15 seconds. One idea, one hook, one clear ask. First cut in 3 days, 2 revision rounds, 16:9 and 9:16 included.

Launch on the pricing page
Every monthScale$4,997 per month

8 unique ads every month. For brands shipping weekly across markets.

Scale on the pricing page
06

Questions about Pre-roll and OLV ads

Will a pre-roll ad play with sound?

In a player, usually: the IAB's 2026 classification paper notes that in-stream ads follow the content's sound state. Out-stream units in articles and feeds autoplay muted once half the ad is in view and play sound only on a tap. We deliver a version written for each.

How long can an unskippable pre-roll be?

The Coalition for Better Ads lists pre-roll ads or pods longer than 31 seconds that cannot be skipped within the first six seconds as falling below its standard for videos of eight minutes or less. We keep non-skippable versions at thirty seconds or less with the brand in the first six.

What counts as a viewable video impression?

The Media Rating Council's guideline: at least half of the ad's pixels in view on an in-focus tab while two continuous seconds play, not necessarily the first two, with no requirement for sound. Our out-stream cuts show the product and the name inside that window.

Which VAST version do you deliver for?

We deliver the video files, and your DSP or ad server writes the tag. Display and Video 360 accepts VAST 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 with no more than two wrappers recommended; Amazon DSP takes inline VAST 2.0 or 3.0. The current IAB version is VAST 4.3.

What loudness should a pre-roll be mixed to?

Minus 24 LKFS plus or minus 2, the IAB US figure Display and Video 360 quotes, with PCM audio at 48 kHz and at least 192 kbps. A social mix runs louder than that, so the open-web version gets its own mix and its own measurement.

Is mid-roll a good placement for a short video?

Not on short content. The Better Ads standard for videos of eight minutes or less lists mid-roll ads as non-preferred whatever their length, so we plan the film for pre-roll and leave mid-roll to long-form video and streaming television.

Keep planning

Other screens, the craft behind the films, and the public prices.

Filmito

Tell us the screen. We build the film.

Six short questions about your brand and where the ad will run. A person replies within one business day with the idea, the price and the date.

Get a quoteSee pricing

Since 2017 · 9,700+ films · 4.8 from 970+ reviews, every one readable