CoinDesk | 2023

CoinDesk Video Player

Reimagining Video Engagement

Screenshot of the video player in a float position on coindesk.com.

Context

When I started at CoinDesk, I noticed something odd about our video metrics. Despite decent viewer numbers, our ad impressions were consistently 30-50% lower than our video plays. This wasn't just about ad blockers – something more fundamental was off with how our video player worked. The gap represented a real opportunity to improve both user experience and revenue.

CoinDesk covers cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, and our audience expects quality. Our video experience wasn't meeting that standard, and it was affecting both viewer engagement and our bottom line.

Challenge

Our self-hosted JW Player setup had several basic problems. The player wasn't the right size, wasn't consistently viewable, didn't float when users scrolled past it, and didn't pause when out of view. These might sound like small issues, but they directly impacted critical metrics like ad completion rate and ad viewability – both of which determine how much advertisers pay us.

Since we were using a self-hosted version of JW Player instead of their cloud solution, we couldn't just flip switches in a dashboard to fix things. This meant building custom solutions from scratch, which added complexity but also gave us more control over the final product.

Approach

I worked with our engineering team to develop practical solutions that would improve both revenue and user experience. We focused on several key improvements:

Added controls to pause videos when not in view, which saved bandwidth and improved completion statistics
Created a standardized skin for the video player that made buttons easier to click, especially on mobile
Built a system to automatically generate closed captions and transcripts, which helped with accessibility and SEO
Set up integration with Google's live video flagging to improve our visibility in search results
Redesigned the floating player position to be less annoying, particularly on mobile
Added a prominent "Big Unmute Button" based on our theory that users who choose to unmute tend to watch longer

The work wasn't glamorous, but it addressed fundamental issues that had been overlooked for too long. Each improvement was designed to solve a specific problem while making the overall experience better.

Outcomes

The results were straightforward and impressive. Both viewability and completion rates jumped by 20-30%, reaching between 70-80% overall. Most importantly, our ad impression numbers completely flipped – going from 30-50% below video plays to 30% above video plays.

This improvement opened the door for adding mid-roll advertisements on longer videos, creating an entirely new revenue stream. The project succeeded because it aligned viewer experience with business goals – better metrics meant happier users and more revenue.

Key Takeaways

Sometimes the most impactful projects come from noticing basic problems others have overlooked.
Small technical improvements can drive significant revenue when they target the right metrics.
Understanding both user behavior and business requirements leads to better solutions.
Testing hypotheses (like our "Big Unmute Button") can uncover simple ways to improve engagement.

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