July 3, 2012

Web Video Update: New VideoHub Report Finds 88% Of Online Video Ads Are Fully Viewable — Findings Give Advertisers, Agencies and Publishers Insight Into Brand Metrics and Viewability

VideoHub, an end-to-end analytics and monetization platform built exclusively for video, recently released its Q1 2012 Performance Replay, a snapshot of the video advertising and video content market gathered across 3.5 billion monetized videos in the first quarter of 2012. "Player Size" and "Player Position" were new additions to the quarterly report, providing market transparency into the quality of the digital screen. Q1 findings show that the majority of video ads are being delivered within large player environments. More importantly, across all player sizes, the viewing quality has been strong — approximately 88 percent of all ads streamed in the first quarter were fully visible to viewers, much stronger than statistics have indicated for display ads. Of the 3.5 billion video streams analyzed, 7 percent were partially obstructed, while viewers never saw the remaining 5 percent. "Online video is at a crossroads, and we finally have insight into how TV and digital lines are blurring at increasing rates," said Kelly McEttrick, senior director of platform strategy for VideoHub, in a news release. "The data we're seeing supports recent claims that concurrent media usage continues to grow and TV is experiencing a small decrease in time spent for the first time. With this report, VideoHub is zeroing in on the interplay between the digital and traditional screens. It's becoming less about one screen versus another, and more about an inevitability that marketers and content providers need to understand now."

The report also offers insights into the adoption of the GRP in the digital ecosystem. In late 2011, VideoHub integrated Nielsen online campaign ratings deep into the platform, providing a real-time bridge across screens and, more importantly, merging reach and frequency to the accountability measures of an interactive viewing environment. Initial trends are showing that the future of video is not about putting TV against digital, but rather letting the two evolve simultaneously. Clients are learning in real-time when and how their ratings are impacting consumers, shifting the way cross-screen video is approached.

The report shows that while day part heavily drives ratings for traditional TV audiences, digital experiences flatter viewing patterns. In Q1, no hour of day exceeded a 6 percent share of the total video streams.

However, the report also shows that digital viewing patterns tend to shift when TV seasons are in their prime. In Q4, when TV programs hit their season finales, digital viewership saw a shift toward primetime with the highest streaming between 4 and 9 p.m. During Q1, when most TV series went on hiatus, digital viewership was highest between 12 and 4 p.m. But as Q1 progressed and shows premiered, the share of viewers watching during primetime grew. March viewership saw a shift toward later viewing hours compared to January.

Although digital video sees less frequency swings in tune-in volumes, it does see strong swings in ad performance. In Q1, VideoHub found that day-part, content length, player size and geo heavily impact the performance of in-stream video advertising. Depending on the creative and the vertical, video advertising appears to be highly sensitive to surrounding variables. In fact, small players outperformed larger players in driving brand lift. VideoHub found that this result was not directly correlated to size but the fact that small players tend to be hosted within lean forward video environments.