Introducing Quality Video: The Transparent Way to Buy Video.

We’ve just launched Quality Video: a brand new product that lets buyers purchase video inventory based on how it actually behaves on the page. It's the first video curation solution built on real player behaviour signals, enabling walled-garden confidence on the open web. 

What’s really happening to your video ads?

Open-web video buying has a real quality problem. Across the open web:

• 30% of video players collapse into smaller units during the user’s time on site.
• 15% continue playing after the user scrolls them out of view.
• 12% of sites have multiple videos playing at the same time.

If a video is playing small, off-screen or competing with another player, is it really delivering meaningful exposure? 

For years, buyers have relied on two blunt labels (Instream and Outstream) to inform video investment decisions. Up to now, Instream has been the 'safe' choice because it requires video ads to play as the primary content focus of a page, with sound on by default. 

Because Instream must meet certain structural criteria, it is widely perceived as higher quality. Many buyers now limit spend exclusively to Instream inventory in the hope of ensuring quality but in practice, an Instream-only strategy comes with real trade-offs because these labels only describe what a video player looks like at page load, not how it behaves throughout the user journey. 

What Is Quality Video?

Quality Video is a signal-led video curation product that evaluates and curates open-web video inventory based on how ads actually appear and behave. 

It extends PIQ, Picnic's proprietary data platform, into the video layer. Just as PIQ scores inventory using quality signals, Quality Video adds a dedicated video scoring dimension on top. The result is a Video PIQ Score: a single, explainable quality signal that reflects the genuine viewing opportunity a placement offers. For buyers, that means quality becomes measurable and adjustable. 

Commenting on the launch, Jamie Hesketh, Chief Product & Technology Officer of Picnic, said:

“Video buyers have been forced to make quality decisions based on DSP labels that only describe how a player is at page load, not what users truly experience – which is ultimately how video impressions should be valued.

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Quality Video is about surfacing what’s really happening on the page, so buyers can make more informed decisions about where their video ads are actually being seen and experienced on the open web.”

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How It Works

Quality Video scores every video placement in PIQ's global inventory using a set of rich, behavioural signals. These signals go beyond page load and track how video players actually behave throughout the user's journey on a page. 

All of these signals feed into a single Video PIQ Score. It uses PIQ's baseline quality index as its foundation, then applies a Video Index. The result is a score that reflects the true quality of a video impression consisting of both the quality of the environment it sits in and the quality of the video experience itself. 

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Using PIQ to assess open-web video inventory, we found that in lower-quality environments multiple videos play simultaneously around 20% of the time, compared with just 3% in premium environments.

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PIQ’s Video Signals include...

‍Average video player size: The average dimensions of the video player throughout the user’s time on site.

Pause out of view: Whether the video stops playing when no longer visible within the active viewport.

Multiple videos playing (%): How frequently multiple video players play simultaneously.

Video integration behaviour: Whether the player remains fixed, becomes sticky, or collapses on scroll.

Sound-on-by-default (%): How frequently playback initiates with volume enabled.

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View a full list of Quality Video Signals here. 

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Benefits of Quality Video

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MORE MEANINGFUL EXPOSURE

Curating video inventory aligned to campaign objectives allows spend to be focused on impressions that have a real chance to be seen, heard and acted on.

REDUCED WASTE

Poor-quality inventory is able to be filtered out before spend begins, reducing wasted spend.

CONFIDENT & TRANSPARENT VIDEO INVESTMENT

Clear visibility into how video actually behaves based on real player signals, giving buyers control over what “quality” means for their campaign.

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How To Activate Quality Video

Quality Video is designed to fit into existing workflows without adding complexity. It activates via a single PMP deal and is availible now.

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To find out more or book a walkthrough, get in touch.