With another trip around the Sun completed and annual reflections behind us, it’s time to look into the near future. What awaits publishers, advertisers, and other industry players in 2025? Will AI continue its head-spinning rise? Will privacy maintain the high degree of importance it had in 2024? Here are my predictions for the video and advertising trends to expect in 2025.
2025 Trends in Video Publishing
The fact that video is the most consumed, most engaging, and fastest-growing media format is nothing new. This has been the case for years now – I’m not expecting it to change anytime soon. But what novelties will we see in the video publishing industry?
Video Podcasting Will See Its Renaissance
More than half of Americans aged 12 to 54 listened to podcasts on a monthly basis in 2024. This, combined with the popularity of the video format, can be a recipe for success – a fact many will surely recognize in 2025. I expect to see a surge of video podcast shows in 2025 (or rather, an even steeper surge than in 2024).
I also wouldn’t be surprised if video podcasts became more of a staple on popular OTT streaming platforms such as Netflix. This could potentially help streaming services tap into an audience they haven’t been able to reach before.
AI-Generated Videos a.k.a. Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
We have already seen a boom in AI-powered video production, mostly on social media, but also in other corners of the Internet. The progress made in the past few years in the AI domain has been nothing short of amazing. But I’d be lying if I said that AI-generated video content doesn’t still look a little… off.
The technology is simply not all the way there yet. Due to this (and the general unfamiliarity with AI), audiences have been wary of AI videos (and I don’t blame them). And let’s not even get into the murky waters of using actual art to train AI and the morality of it all.
I expect that publishers, producers, and others relying on artificial intelligence to streamline the video production process won’t necessarily focus on using AI to generate creatives from scratch. However, AI will become (and is already becoming) an invaluable tool for editing and fine-tuning the details of existing, human-generated creatives.
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Follow UsVertical Short-Form Content Is Still All the Rage
The mobile-first approach to publishing has been gaining traction for a while now, and with it, the optimization of video content for mobile viewing. In other words – vertical videos will continue to be the preferred format for a big chunk of the audience, especially among younger viewers.
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Besides the aspect ratio, mobile viewing has also impacted the preferred duration of video content. Although there has been a slight increase in the demand for long-form content, I don’t expect longer formats to see their renaissance for at least a year or two more.
In other words, vertical, short-form content remains the reigning king (or queen) of video publishing.
Employee-Generated Content in B2C
User-generated content had its big moment in 2024. And while it remains a preferred way for many viewers to learn about new products, services, and more, a new type of content has been gaining traction.
Employee-generated content in B2C industries is a way for companies to connect with their audiences in an authentic (or at least seemingly authentic) way.
Needless to say, this trend can easily be a double-edged sword. Employees are usually not trained actors, and if they feel awkward in front of the camera, it will show. A poorly executed employee-generated content strategy can do more harm than good. But well-executed strategies can do wonders.
Either way, it will be interesting to see all the creative ways companies will put EGC to use.
2025 Video Advertising Trends
Considering how fast-changing the digital advertising landscape is, it’s safe to assume that we can expect to see some exciting new ad trends in 2025. Here are my predictions.
Privacy-First Advertising (despite Google’s everchanging cookie plans)
As Allison Schiff of AdExchanger cleverly put it, “the biggest privacy-related story of 2024 is actually about something that didn’t happen”.
I am probably correct in assuming that you know exactly what she was talking about – Google’s multiple postponements of third-party cookie deprecation followed by the eventual scrapping of the plan altogether.
Although cookies are here to stay, the mere possibility of their deprecation has shaken the industry a bit. Many large industry players have developed (and are still developing) targeting alternatives, and stricter privacy regulations have been the talk of the town.
With all this in mind, I neither see the advertising community reverting to old-school data collection nor consumers going back to not caring about their online privacy as much. In other words, privacy will remain among the top concerns for advertisers, publishers, and users alike.
Short-Form Video Ads
Although it sounds too good to be true from a consumer’s perspective, video ads might soon become shorter.
According to Statista, less than 15% of users never skip in-app video ads, while over 65% always skip them. From the advertisers’ perspective, this directly translates to wasted production resources.
Why create a minute-long ad if most people will only see the first fifteen seconds of it?
This is why I expect many advertisers to tone down the use of the long-form video ad format, if not retire it completely.
Instead, formats like LinkedIn carousels may gain traction, offering a more engaging way to share multiple short videos or images in a single ad, allowing users to swipe at their own pace and increase overall engagement.
Native Advertising Continues Its Rise
More than just an alternative to cookie-based targeting, native advertising has become a favorite among many industry players, and for a good reason. Since it relies on genuine, time-sensitive interest, rather than (somewhat) vague predictions based on user behavior, it has proven quite effective.
Additionally, it is great for battling banner blindness. And probably more importantly, it usually has more added value than traditional advertising.
From my experience, watching a video with useful tips and product placement is usually more effective than just seeing an ad for said product.
So don’t be surprised if more ad platforms start pushing native advertising more aggressively. (And it surely doesn’t hurt that consumers prefer native to traditional advertising).
Shoppable Video Ads on the Rise
With the e-commerce industry more powerful than ever, shoppable video ads have been experiencing a boom. They significantly streamline the online purchasing process for users and often record 70% higher conversion rates than regular video ads.
So far, shoppable ads have been dominating social media platforms, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing them more often on other websites in 2025.
AI Ad Optimization
While artificial intelligence (arguably) still has some way to go before it can fully replace traditional ad production processes, it is becoming the go-to tool for ad optimization across the board.
That said, I still wouldn’t recommend letting AI do its thing without human supervision. Ad campaigns can be quite versatile, and even minute details can depend on the advertiser’s specific goals and preferences.
Still, it can be a valuable addition to the advertising toolkit, and as such, I predict it will be used more and more often.
Attention Is on Attention
I’ll be the first one to admit – just because I’m being served an ad doesn’t mean I’m looking at it at all. All too often, unskippable CTV ads are the right time for me to check my phone or go grab a snack. And I’m not alone.
The advertising industry is finally catching on, and they’re less willing to spend their ad budgets on “empty” impressions. Attention metrics have emerged as a potential solution – rather than focusing on how many ads were shown, this metric focuses on how many ads were actually watched.
Here’s the issue – measuring people’s attention is not nearly as easy. Eye-tracking technology is one way to do it, but its applicability in the advertising world is unlikely. Not to mention the breach of privacy it would entail.
I do expect to see alternative attention-tracking technologies sprouting in the somewhat distant future. But sooner than that, I believe we’ll see ad tech that ensures attention rather than tracks it. Attention-grabbing hooks simply aren’t cutting it anymore.
Personally, I’m pretty excited to see the solutions that emerge.
2025 Video & Advertising Trends: A Year of Refinement and Innovation
2025 seems to be a year of both refinement and innovation in video and advertising. We’ll see established trends, like the dominance of vertical short-form video, solidify their positions, while newer concepts, such as employee-generated content, will gain traction. The continued evolution of AI will play a crucial role, not just in video creation, but also in ad optimization and targeting.
The advertising industry will keep prioritizing consumer preferences, leading to the growth of native advertising and shoppable video ads. Ultimately, success in 2025 will depend on a nuanced understanding of audience behavior, a commitment to ethical practices, and a strategic approach to leveraging the latest tech.
