{"id":85293,"date":"2026-08-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/?post_type=case_study&p=85293"},"modified":"2026-08-27T13:21:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T18:21:20","slug":"how-al-dente-diva-turned-existing-video-content-into-a-higher-earning-revenue-stream","status":"publish","type":"case_study","link":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/case-study\/how-al-dente-diva-turned-existing-video-content-into-a-higher-earning-revenue-stream\/","title":{"rendered":"How Al Dente Diva Turned Existing Video Content Into a Higher-Earning Revenue Stream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Back to Case Studies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n

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Universal Player Plus<\/h2>\n\n\n

How Al Dente Diva Turned Existing Video Content Into a Higher-Earning Revenue Stream<\/h1><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Up 56%<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Universal Player CPM
year over year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Up 65%<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Universal Player RPM
year over year<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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24-30%<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Share of total site revenue<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

February 1 to July 19, 2026, versus the same period in 2025<\/em><\/em>
CPM and RPM reflect Universal Player ad unit performance, not sitewide averages.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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The Publisher<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tara Ippolito already had the two things many publishers are working to build: an engaged audience and a growing library of video content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She runs Al Dente Diva<\/a>, a food site focused on fast, family-friendly weeknight cooking. A self-taught home cook and cookbook author published by Page Street Publishing in 2022, Tara has also appeared on Netflix\u2019s Easy-Bake Battle. Her recipes have been featured by Newsweek, the Daily Mail, and The Kitchn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond her website, Tara has built an active video presence across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. A single live session for Pinterest\u2019s Golden Recipe Contest reached 85,000 views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video was already part of Tara\u2019s strategy. The opportunity was finding a better way to connect that content with her site\u2019s monetization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Before: A Video Library and a Player That Weren\u2019t Connected<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before implementing Universal Player Plus<\/a>, Al Dente Diva<\/a> was already running Mediavine\u2019s standard Universal Player. It served outstream video ads, generated strong revenue, and ranked as her second-highest-performing ad unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Tara had a library of original video content on her site. However, those videos lived separately in click-to-play embeds, meaning they only monetized when a reader actively chose to watch them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The player was generating video ad demand, but it wasn\u2019t connected to Tara\u2019s own content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opportunity wasn\u2019t about creating more video. Tara already had the content. The opportunity was making the video she had already created work harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Universal Player Plus Changed<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Universal Player Plus<\/a> connected Tara\u2019s existing video library with her player, unlocking Accompanying Content ads a higher-value ad format that requires publisher video content to be present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does that matter? Advertisers value context. A video ad running alongside a publisher\u2019s own editorial content represents more meaningful opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What This Means for Your Site<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have video content sitting in click-to-play embeds, it may be worth more inside the player than on the page. Accompanying Content ads need one video to unlock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Universal Player Plus and how to opt in here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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