The type of inventory that can be offered to advertisers is impacted by technology decisions made by publishers and platform developers. Client playback environments vary in capability, and while this introduces new advertising opportunities (advanced players may offer innovative new ad units), the lack of uniformity across platforms complicates the ad-supported media proposition.

Consider the evolution of the web browser as it pertains to the situation with media playback environments. The tremendous presentation flexibility of the browser as a standards-based platform provides a rich palette for creative expression on both the content and advertisement sides. The ubiquity of the Flash player and its cross-browser compatibility opens up even more creative possibilities.  This is an example of two different types of standards—one managed by a standards body (the W3C) and the other a de facto standard (Flash as a widely adopted rich client browser extension).  Early days in the browser wars featured debates over standards compliance versus innovation.  While the numbers show that Microsoft won the browser battle (for now, at least), adherence to standards has also won. Will standards develop around video playback environments to allow all participants in the content publication ecosystem to optimize their efforts? 

Today, publishers have a tradeoff to consider.  They may be able to obtain a high value from innovative, engaging ad units that creatively deliver the advertiser’s message, or better target the desired audience, but possibly at the expense of broad reach.  In a browser environment, this might not be much of a tradeoff. Thanks to a standards-based presentation layer, highly innovative ad types can be delivered to most all viewers.  But as digital media consumption moves beyond the browser, the lowest common denominator comes into play, and the lack of standards constrains the type of ads that are universally applicable. Over time, we may see standards emerge in non-browser playback environments, and this will lead to innovation built on top of those standards.  Today, however, the advertising value calculation has to take into consideration the capabilities of all the environments the publisher wishes to target, and the complexity associated with a client-specific publication process to support client-specific ad units and ad delivery methods.