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In the latest effort to find an alternative to pre-roll video ads, AOL has announced plans to begin offering "video ticker ads," a graphic banner ad which is integrated directly into streaming video content. The new advertising format is developed in conjunction with rich media developer PointRoll.

AOL's video tickers are banners, either video ads or interactive Flash units, that appear at the bottom of the new AOL Video Player 10 seconds after the viewer begins watching a clip. If the viewer clicks the ad, the video is paused and the ad is expanded. If the viewer ignores the ad, the banner dissolves after 15 seconds and leaves a branded text link. Click that link and the ticker comes back to life.

AOL's debut of the video ticker format comes as part of other new advertising options emerged. They include the ability to make content like email and social networks available from the video player; new ad inventory with 300x250 interstitials and synced text ads; and a new user interface and development framework for creating ads.

"Online video consumption is a fast growing consumer behavior and our new video ticker ads give advertisers a new and creative opportunity to reach consumers through this burgeoning medium," said Platform-A President Curt Viebranz. Platform-A is the entity AOL created in September to consolidate the activities of its growing spate of advertising businesses.

In a TNS Research survey conducted in September, more than three-quarters of respondents felt that online video ads are as good a vehicle for engaging with a brand as television ads. Additionally, 64 percent of respondents said that they had "taken some action after seeing an online video ad." The TNS study was done in partnership with AOL and Google.

While the industry has been developing other overlay solutions to integrate banner ads adjacent to video content, AOL and PointRoll claimed their new ticker ads create a more interactive experience, enabling users to access advertising content while viewing video content.

Ticker ads, might be considered as AOL's latest attempt to attract online users, as it continues the effort to reposition itself as an advertising powerhouse and muscle into the party long-dominated by Google and Yahoo.