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If you want to know what’s really happening in your community, Patch is often the first place to look. From high school football scores and town council meetings to street closures and new restaurant openings, Patch connects readers with the stories that matter to them—right where they live.
Founded in 2008, Patch has grown into the largest hyperlocal news network in the United States, serving more than 12,000 communities across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. With a lean staff of regional editors and a passionate network of contributors, Patch plays a vital role in keeping residents informed while also giving small businesses a trusted place to reach nearby audiences.
Patch’s strength has always been its combination of neighborhood relevance and national reach. That same balance also shaped how carefully the company approached new formats, especially video.
Preserving trust while exploring new revenue
Despite its revenue potential, video was a format Patch had long been hesitant to adopt. Rolling it out across more than 1,900 local sites introduced the risk of slower load times, disrupted layouts, and intrusive experiences—outcomes that run counter to the fast, community-first experience Patch readers expect. For video to be effective for monetization, it had to maintain optimal performance and avoid straining editorial and ad teams. Each placement also needed to feel natural within its region rather than a generic layer applied across thousands of distinct sites.
A smarter approach to hyperlocal video
Patch partnered with EX.CO to introduce video in a way that respected both the platform’s scale and its hyperlocal DNA. The collaboration centered on pairing neighborhood stories with contextual video experiences, avoiding the need for new editorial workflows. Each placement aligned naturally with the surrounding content, helping video feel relevant rather than disruptive.
EX.CO’s lightweight video player was designed to load quickly and integrate seamlessly across Patch’s diverse network of sites. Behind the scenes, a machine learning–driven yield engine optimized programmatic video demand automatically, allowing revenue to start flowing without any manual intervention or extra resources. Throughout the rollout, EX.CO worked closely with Patch to test and refine placements, ensuring the video experience met the company’s standards for speed, usability, and consistency.
Expanding video, delivering results
As video rolled out nationwide across all U.S. markets, EX.CO aimed to help Patch achieve 100% video coverage, with video content across as many article pages as possible. Patch’s network soared to more than 46 million video player loads, each one an opportunity to serve ads relevant to the article and its audience. That level of engagement translated into a seven-figure annualized video revenue run rate, turning Patch’s cautious first steps into a meaningful and sustainable monetization channel fully integrated into its existing business.
Scaling without compromise
Many web publishers that operate a network of sites face the same challenge Patch once did: expanding a video strategy across hundreds or thousands of niches, each with its own audience expectations. Without the right approach, video can feel generic or be impossible to scale.
EX.CO bridges that gap. Its combination of contextual relevance, automated optimization, and a player built for performance-sensitive environments enabled Patch to roll out video across its entire network seamlessly. The approach unlocked a powerful new revenue stream while keeping the experience fast, intuitive, and tailored to each community.
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