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In a saturated market, audiences may not want more low-quality video

The growing audience for video, more valuable to advertisers than the space next to words, is causing websites to shift resources in what’s become known across the industry as the pivot to video.

This piece explores the question of whether a major push into video makes sense, and why it’s important to cut through the noise.

Publishers are heading in this direction even though polls show consumers find video ads more irritating than TV commercials. Google and Apple Inc. are testing features that let you mute websites with auto-play videos or block them entirely. More young Americans prefer reading the news than watching it, according to a survey last year by the Pew Research Center.

But many publishers have little choice… “They are pivoting to video because the industry is in the midst of a monetization crisis.”