A game-theoretic analysis for creative mid-roll ads on a content platform

The accessibility of pre-roll ads (PAs) has significantly diminished due to the privilege of skipping ads for paid members. Leading video platforms have introduced a new type of streaming ad, the creative mid-roll ad (CMA), which reduces consumer aversion to ads by tightly integrating them with video. Moreover, paid members are also a target group for CMAs, which may conflict with their interests and potentially reduce their viewing volume. We develop a game-theoretical model to examine the platform's advertising pricing and the advertiser's mode selection process. Counterintuitively, the CMA fee rate at equilibrium decreases as video attractiveness and the CMA's ad conversion ability increase because higher video attractiveness and ad conversion ability enhance the advantages of lowering the CMA fee rate. We find that the advertiser will balance conversion efficiency and price gaps between the two ad modes when making decisions. As increased conversion ability prompts advertisers to invest more, a significant gap in conversion efficiency results in higher equilibrium investment in PA mode compared to CMA mode. A low proportion of paid members results in a better consumer surplus in CMA mode than in PA mode, which is because the CMA mode targets paid members with its advertisements.

由于付费会员享有广告跳过特权，前贴片广告（pre-roll ads, PAs）的触达率已大幅下滑。主流视频平台推出了新型流媒体广告形式——创意中插广告（creative mid-roll ad, CMA），通过将广告与视频内容深度绑定，降低了消费者对广告的抵触情绪。此外，付费会员亦是创意中插广告的目标受众，这可能与其观看权益产生冲突，并潜在降低其整体观看时长。我们构建了博弈论模型，以分析平台的广告定价策略与广告主的广告模式选择过程。与直觉相悖的是，均衡状态下的创意中插广告费率会随视频吸引力与广告转化能力提升而降低，因为更高的视频吸引力与广告转化能力会进一步放大降低创意中插广告费率所带来的竞争优势。我们发现，广告主在进行决策时，需平衡两种广告模式的转化效率与价格差距；当广告转化能力提升促使广告主增加投入时，若两种模式的转化效率差距显著，前贴片广告模式的均衡投入将高于创意中插广告模式。当付费会员占比较低时，创意中插广告模式下的消费者剩余将优于前贴片广告模式，这是由于创意中插广告将付费会员纳入了广告目标受众群体。