How Targeting in Online Video Advertising Works
Online video ads are only effective when shown to the right people — at the right moment. That’s why targeting strategies play such a crucial role. Below we’ll outline the most common targeting options used in online video advertising, how they function, and what makes them valuable for advertisers.
Audience targeting: Targeting by Demographics or Interests
Geo targeting enables advertisers to reach viewers based on where they are — from broad regions like countries down to specific cities or even defined geographic zones. This approach is especially relevant for brands with local branches or for businesses offering services in a limited area.
A good example: a cinema chain can ensure their video ads only run in regions where their theaters operate — avoiding wasted ad spend on users in other locations.
How does Location Targeting in Video Work?
Most location targeting for video uses the viewer’s IP address to estimate their location. Internet providers allocate IP addresses based on geographic regions, and specialized databases allow advertisers to connect these addresses with physical locations. This means video ads can be delivered with precision to audiences in targeted regions — increasing relevance and efficiency.
Audience targeting: Targeting by Demographics or Interests
In addition to location, advertisers often want to reach viewers based on their demographics, interests, or online behavior — ensuring video ads are shown to users most likely to engage.
To achieve that there are three different approaches:
Video ads can be played on certain websites as a replacement for static banners or around video content as a preroll, midroll or postroll spot.
Based on the theme of the website, it will attract specific viewers.
On YouTube, it is also possible to play your ad only on certain videos with a specific theme.
By selecting the right websites and video content for your video to appear on, you can ensure that your video ad is only shown to viewers who are relevant to you.
For example, if you are a car dealer, you could place your video ads on websites that focus on car topics to reach your relevant target audience.
Some players like YouTube are in possession of first party data, which opens up powerful targeting opportunities for advertisers. As a platform where users are logged in with their personal accounts across devices, YouTube can leverage rich signals such as demographics, interests, search behavior, and viewing history to enable precise audience targeting.
As not many players have their own first-party data from login information, AllMediaDesk has developed its own data management platform that enables advertisers to use comprehensive targeting for all partners. There, we collect a lot of data about the user (content viewed, device, location, etc.) before delivering an ad. We also work with market research institutes and panel providers to collect information about which users use which video content, devices, etc. Thanks to exclusive artificial intelligence, our targeting solution finds correlations and look-a-likes so that campaigns can be targeted much more precisely, and the desired target group can be reached more effectively.