The Pool Around the World

Since its inception in 2008, The Pool has brought together 160 companies in seven countries across 14 lanes. Our international colleagues have helped develop the future in online video, cross-media metrics, display, IPTV, and more. Here you’ll find a summary of each international lane. To learn more about a specific lane, contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

China – Online Video – Launched April 2010

The Pool launched its first international lane in China, continuing its research in online video while trying out the democratic Pool process in a new country. After three phases of robust research, ASq was named the winning model.

MENA – Display – Launched September 2010

The Pool team in MENA sought to find a new workhorse for display advertising. After testing 18 ad models with five advertisers via 30 million impressions across five publishers, the Tri-Ad ad model was voted as the winner.

U.K. – Online Video – Launched October 2010

This Pool lane was designed to reaffirm the value of the winning online video ad model in the first two U.S. lanes, the ASq. This ‘choice’ ad model was compared to the Pre-roll benchmark in a live, in-market field trial and included three advertisers and three publishers. The research test encompassed behavioral tracking from VINDICO as well as attitudinal surveys from comScore. The behavioral data confirmed that when an ad was chosen, it significantly outperformed the Pre-roll in terms of completion and click through rates. Attitudinally we saw directional lifts for brand awareness and purchase intent.

Spain – Online Video – Launched November 2010

Spain launched its first lane to focus on online video as well. ASq was determined to be the winning ad model at the end of three research phases. One different finding in Spain was that the results for ASq were notably higher when consumers could not skip part of the ad. They have recommended that this ad model, when scaled to the Spanish online video industry, should not allow for any ad skipping. The industry-wide release occurred in November 2011 at the IAB Spain Inspirational Festival, and the research program became a finalist at the European IAB awards.

Australia – Online Video – Launched March 2011

For this market’s lane, The Pool worked with one publisher, Fairfax Digital, which brought an evolved version of the ASq (referred to as AdSelector in this lane) model to Australia. Five advertisers participated in the field trial, with Nielsen conducting the attitudinal survey research. The Ad Selector was compared to the Pre-roll benchmark, with a control group consisting of those exposed to the page on which an ad appeared who did not remember seeing any ad. The research demonstrated clear superiority for the selection model when consumers selected which ad to watch. The biggest improvements were seen in brand consideration, brand sentiment, and purchase intent.

China – OLV/Cross Media Metrics – Launched July 2011

This was China’s second Pool lane, following their Online Video Lane. It launched in July 2011, with 11 publishers and 13 advertisers. Its goals were to explore the value of online video advertising, quantify its effects and cost effectiveness, determine the optimal frequency of online video ad delivery, and try to optimize the combination of TV and online video advertising. To achieve these goals, an online survey on cross-media consumption was undertaken, the results of which were used to develop cross media metrics. The survey of about 5,000 consumers across 40 markets showed the growth in reported usage of online video, as well as how it complemented traditional TV. In the second part of the analysis, which included online tracking of brand activity with tagged TV ads combined with online brand impact surveys, they showed how online video ads could enhance the reach of a campaign, how to manage frequency levels, and how to do both cost effectively.

France – Online Video – Launched September 2011

The Pool in France launched a lane to find the best ad model for in-stream online video. The research tested several ad units against the industry benchmark, Pre-roll. In October 2012, the ASq was announced as the winning ad model. Having won previous Pool lanes in other countries, France’s research further proves the ASq as a winning, choice-based model.

France – IPTV – Launched September 2011

As IPTV penetration grew in France, the IPTV lLne was launched to analyze the impact of Pre-roll advertising on the platform. Announced in October 2012, the results showed Pre-roll, the standard format on the platform, to be highly effective on IPTV. Consumers reported better ad experiences and higher brand favorability with Pre-roll on IPTV than with Pre-roll in traditional web environments. With adoption rates growing, the lane also found the platform to be an effective tool for generating strong ROI.

France – In-Banner Video – Launched September 2011

Focused on consumer experience, the research set out to find the best in-banner video models in France. The lane tested a variety of ad units that varied based on how users initiated ad content (e.g., roll-over, auto-play, click-to-play). In October 2012, The Pool in France released the results and named two winning ad units: Header Video and Video In Banner Expand. Header video is a prominent 1000 x 250 ad unit featuring a video player that sits near the top of web pages, while Video In Banner Expand is similar to a standard banner with the added capability to expand for a larger video experience.

China – TV/OLV Neuroscience – Launched December 2012

With 24 participants, The Pool in China set out to measure the differences between TV ads and online video ads using a neuroscience approach. Eye tracking was used to measure behavioral responses and EEG signals were used to measure brain activity. The research proved that online video ads make a greater cognitive impact on consumers than TV ads. Additionally, the research compared Pre-roll to mid-roll and 15-second ads to 30-second ads to find that consumer responses are generally the same regardless of the ad format.