SeaWell smooths ABR ad insert, interops with ARRIS

Online video stakeholders would like to see the best of both worlds: the addressability of IP-based unicast and the profitability of advertising supported television viewing. One of the current gaps between these models is the bolted-on look and feel of online video advertising.

Venture capital-backed SeaWell Networks is aiming to make online ads more TV-like by making online ads less jagged around the edge. In the latest version of its adaptive bit rate (ABR)-based software platform, SeaWell is demonstrating at NAB 2012 a new capability to smooth the transition between episodic video content and inserted ads.

“We’re involved in the stream, looking at it, massaging it, working with every bit rate stream,” said SeaWell CEO and Co-Founder Brian Collie. “Here’s the content; here’s the advertising. We stitch that together.”

The theory is that a more seamless experience of online advertising would encourage longer viewing times and raise the likelihood of click-through. SeaWell’s Spectrum 2.0 session control solution for ABR-based video makes that prospect less theoretical by not only personalizing each session with advertisements based on an individual’s behavior, but also by creating a video steam that is immune to conventional ad blocking technologies.

Collie said that in a unicast model, a service provider has the opportunity to manipulate manifest files very quickly, while acknowledging the edge user. He said that Spectrum, which is deployed on a variety of hardware and virtual architectures but not as an end-user client, serves as an “ad decision point that can be targeted.”

At NAB2012, SeaWell demonstrated the integration of Spectrum with an ad decision manager (ADM) from ARRIS. “The successful interoperability of ARRIS and SeaWell Networks allows relevant ads to be delivered, based on contextual data,” said Neerav Shah, ARRIS VP of Product Line Management in a statement.

Shah said the relationship further demonstrates ARRIS’ commitment to bringing “innovative and open standard solutions to the market in order to monetize multi-screen services.” Collie anticipates additional Spectrum integrations with other advertising ecosystem partners.

The online video advertising model remains a work in progress. Studies tend to put a high premium on the value of targeted advertising, but excessive targeting and high ad loads can generate pushback from viewers accustomed, whether watching TV or online video, to being able to hit mute, change channels or click to another site.