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MillimeterThe Distribution Beat
Mar 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Eric Melin
If you've ever been annoyed by the glut of ads that pop up during online videos, get ready to expect more of them in the future. Online ad revenue is the way of the future — just ask Tina Fey, who made a controversial joke about the lack of Internet residuals for actors during her recent speech at the Screen Actors Guild Awards — and advertisers want to make sure that viewers don't tune out before the intended commercial is even shown.
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Online video analytics and distribution company TubeMogul recently completed a study that concluded that most online viewers stop watching videos sooner than you might think. “An average 10.39 percent of viewers [are] clicking away after 10 seconds, and 53.56 percent [are] leaving after 1 minute,” the study says.
TubeMogul included short-form content from six top video destinations in the study, but not the full-length streaming video offered by sites such as Hulu. “Short-form video production is growing, and although there are various ad formats and still no clear winner, advertisers recognize a large (and affordable) opportunity here — from video bloggers like [number-one-most-subscribed YouTube channel] Fred to dramatic web series,” says TubeMogul Marketing Manager David Burch.
The online audience's short attention span brings up an obvious lesson for content producers: Your video must hook viewers as soon as possible and be only as long as it needs to be. Efficiency in storytelling is key. This also means any opening graphics or introductions should be limited to short bursts while the video itself races right to the hook of the piece.
For advertisers looking to spend strategically in this economic downturn, it means we will be seeing less post-video ads and more overlay ads similar to the kind YouTube currently runs on its own partner pages. The company must now weigh the annoyance of its users against the effectiveness of its ads, however. Most of YouTube's overlay ads appear at about 10 seconds in, and according to TubeMogul's study, that means that 10.39 percent of a video's initial viewers may not be seeing the ad at all.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.
