In the same way that TV advertisers have taken to maximizing every potential inch of ad space on your TV screen (think of a typical CNN broadcast), video advertisers are starting to do the same with online video. You’ve probably already been hit with preroll, midroll and postroll ads (the ads that appear before, during and after a video) but marketers are just starting to heavily use skin ads, bugs and tickers. 

Skins Ads are about to get a mainstream boost though. CBS will use skins as their primary ad format on “The Burly Sports Show,” which will be produced by Heavy.com and featured on CBSSports.com. The skin format, which features a Web video playing in a window surrounded by a graphic, has been steadily gaining in popularity. Marketers like them because they can easily switch out ads to match target markets, as well as feature multiple skins during one video; viewers like them because they are less intrusive than preroll spots. 

While the advertising industry is still figuring out how to price and track the effectiveness of ad skins, Heavy.com is already reporting success. They say their click-through rate on skins is 1% - 2%, a high number in an industry that typically sees less than a fraction of a percent with other types of online ads. 

Check out some skin examples at Heavy.com. Or have you seen effective ad skin at work? We’d love to see your examples.