In an effort to improve the online ad experience for consumers, the Coalition for Better Ads has announced a new Better Ads Standard, that will apply to short-form videos on desktop, mobile web and in-app. The new standards will apply to any short-form ad videos that are eight minutes or less in length.

According to the Coalition for Better Ads, there are three specific ad experiences that will now have to follow the Better Ads Standard for short-form video: mid-roll ads; pre-roll ads or pods longer than 31 seconds that cannot be skipped in the first five seconds; and non-linear display ads that are in the middle one-third of a playing video or are larger than 20 per cent of the video content.

In order to abide by these new standards, short-form video ads will now be graded on a threshold, with the best outcome being consumer acceptability, and the worst outcome being an ad that triggers viewers to install ad blockers.

“The Coalition for Better Ads is pleased to add this new Standard to our tools to help the online ad industry improve the experience for consumers,” said Neal Thurman, director of the Coalition for Better Ads. “Broadening the environments covered by our Better Ads Standards will benefit consumers and provide additional guidance for businesses to respond to consumer preferences.”

“Although the growth of ad blocking has slowed down in recent years, the industry still has a long way to go to ensure that the ads they serve are relevant and enhance consumers’ online experience. The new Standard for video ads is a positive step forward, following the Better Ads Standards and the work the Coalition and its members are doing globally and locally,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).

“Video content is a fast-growing sector and advertising is fundamental to funding it. Advertisers, agencies, ad tech companies, and publishers should ensure that video advertising addresses consumer expectations, and to that end they are encouraged to quickly adopt this new Standard,” said Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe.