• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, August 27, 2015

Appnext, a Tel Aviv-based programmatic platform, has announced the launch of a native video ad solution, allowing publishers to serve ads on a cost-per-install (CPI) basis.

The native videos will be available through API feeds, full screen interstitials, and rewarded video ads, which are shown in return for powerups or lives, depending on the app in which the ad is shown. About 1,000 video campaigns are available through their platform.

Ads include trailers for game apps as well as a number of utility apps in various lifestyle verticals including news, dining, health and gaming among others.

“Video is a powerful storytelling medium and we are putting that power into publishers’ hands,” said Elad Natanson, founder of Appnext, in a statement.

Mobile video is certainly bursting into the programmatic scene, spearheading the estimated $15 billion in programmatic revenue this year, according to a report by BI Intelligence.

The same report predicts that programmatic transactions will become a majority (52%) of non-search digital-ad spend. It also estimates that 30.6% of total digital ad spend will go to programmatic real-time bidding (RTB) platforms, and 21.7% will go to non-RTB programmatic.

CPI as a basis for selling ads may be more engaging, but some consumers can find them annoying -- ad exchanges tend to favor whatever means drive the install, showing the same ads multiple times to the same user. This kind of repetition can be detrimental to an app’s branding efforts. 

Appnext had 300% year-over-year growth in 2014, releasing a self-serve advertising platform that same year.