Vertical Video: Where It Stands

Vertical video: where it stands for publishers

Updated October 31, 2026. Built from the sourced statements Beeler.Tech tracks on vertical video at mcp.beeler.tech.

The short answer

Vertical video is worth testing now. It is not worth betting the page on yet.

Readers are watching. The New York Times says video viewing on its platforms more than doubled in a year, to nearly 200 million minutes in September 2025 (INMA). The Economist says vertical viewing in its app more than doubled too (Nieman Lab).

The money trails the audience. Time says its video ads sell at a 25 to 40% premium over display, but that covers all video, not vertical alone (Digiday). One pub in our community put it best: probably the bigger revenue opportunity, with a much higher opportunity cost (how we use community input).

Where it stands

The big pubs built the feeds. The ad layer is still catching up.

WhenPublisherWhat they did
May 202620 MinutenLaunched a vertical feed in its app: about 30 videos a day, a team of four, six months to build. Vertical and display ads at launch, no pre-roll
Dec 2025TimeRuns “Bytes” vertical video on nearly every article page, after the second paragraph. Built with Media.net, also sold direct
Nov 2025The New York TimesPlanned to open its Watch tab to brands in a vertical video ad beta by early 2026. Whether it launched is not confirmed
Nov 2025The EconomistVertical viewing in its app more than doubled. The tab supports subscriptions, not ad revenue

The demand question is older than these launches. In 2023, EX.CO said vertical video on the web earned no CPM premium and drew little programmatic demand (Digiday, sponsored by EX.CO). None of our sources reports a vertical-only CPM since. That is the number to watch.

What publishers report

Building the player is the easy part.

20 Minuten said the player was never the hard part. The hard part is an experience built for short content (persoenlich.com, translated from German).

The Times is betting on curation over the algorithm. “We’re not trying to be TikTok,” said Solana Pyne, its director of video (Nieman Lab). Its ad side is less sure of itself. Video ads are a key growth area, but the right format is still unclear (Digiday).

Newsday’s reason is defensive. If readers shift to video, it wants them still getting their news from Newsday (Nieman Lab).

The buy side sees time on site. Tinuiti’s Brian Binder said vertical is how people consume content now, and more time on site can open more inventory (Digiday).

Who supplies it

Plenty of vendors will sell you a player. Ask each one for vertical-only numbers.

CompanyWhat they sayTie to Beeler.Tech
MinuteVertical players work on home pages and section fronts. Outstream fits long-dwell pages, instream fits featured media in articlesIn View client; our interview
EX.COVertical is a major trend. Pubs need video platforms that support vertical and keep improving how it is delivered and monetizedIn View client; paid partnership
Media.netBuilt Time’s “Bytes” vertical moduleNone
JWXOne line of JavaScript to install, then A/B test vertical against other formatsNone. The vendor’s own description
MediavineUpload social video at native 9:16. Sticky square player on mobile, full 9:16 on desktopNone. Mediavine pubs only

We name who says what and mark our ties. This is not a ranking.

What to do now

Run it as a test, judge it on the session, and count what it costs you. Beeler.Tech recommends:

  1. Start where vertical already works. Home pages and section fronts (Minute), or high in the article after the second paragraph (Time).
  2. Feed it what you already have. Your social video at native 9:16 (Mediavine). Have editors curate the feed instead of personalizing it (The New York Times).
  3. Split-test it. Start on 10% of traffic, go to 50% if it holds, then roll out (Aditude).
  4. Judge it on the session, not the page. Use session RPM and revenue per session (Clickio). Watch videos per user, watch time and page-load impact at the same time (Minute).
  5. Net it out. Subtract vendor fees, production and rights, sales and tech costs, and the revenue it pushed off your existing units.
  6. Sell it, don’t just plug it in. Let brands reuse their social creative so campaigns launch within 48 hours (The New York Times). Bundle it with sponsorships that already include off-site video (Time).

No publisher has published results from running all six steps yet. If you do, we want to hear about it.

Rob’s take

Consumers want vertical video so we should give it to them. If you have direct sales, you need to talk to your clients and see if they can leverage their social media assets. So much creative and work is going to social platforms in the form of vertical video. The hold up seems to be that agency social teams are not talking with the other teams or the value of repurposing these assets hasn’t been established.

Sources

We rewrite this page when five or more new statements land, or when the recommendations change.