Video Ads Analysis

One year after click-to-play video ads were introduced by Google, we look at their performance and new Google Video Ad options.

A recent Doubleclick survey found that video ads work well

"audiences have high interaction rates with video ads"
"users click the "Play" button more than they click on image ads"
"video ads are typically played two-thirds of the way through"
"video ad click rates are far higher than those of image format ads."

Google is also said to be supporting online video, with supposedly high ranking of video content in their free search position algorithm.

Double Click Analysis Of Video Ads

DoubleClick analysed over 300 online video ad campaigns placed by more than 130 advertisers over a four-month period in 2006.

The study attempted to identify major trends in the performance metrics of online video ad campaigns according to campaign features:

vertical industry sector
ad format
ad size
ad length

Key Findings

The results supported clear ROI advantages to placing video ads.

The interaction rate included the sum total of all interactions with the video ad units:

mouseovers
expansions
interactions with the video control buttons
clicks and other events.

When these factors were divided by the total impressions served, the overall average interaction rate = 8 percent. Not too shabby!

Key findings included:

Users click the "Play" button more than they click on image ads
Videos with video control buttons - more customers are likely to click the "Play" button.
Consumers are about twice as likely to play (or replay if a video starts automatically) an online video ad unit, as they are to click through on a standard JPG or GIF ad [0.3percent, compared to the standard CTR for image ads at 0.1 to 0.2 percent).
On average, video ads play two thirds of the way through
The most common length of play of video ad units embedded in Web pages, as opposed to streaming video content, was 30 seconds
No preference was shown to ads that display in larger windows and standard video ads that do not expand. In both cases, ads were played about two thirds the way through - 19.1 seconds for a 30-second ad and 10.3 seconds for a 15-second ad.
Video click rates are far higher than image format ads. Online video ads had click-through rates from 0.4 percent to 0.74 percent [depending on the online video format], compared to click-through rate for plain GIF or JPG image ads ranges between 0.1 and 0.2 percent.

Note: Almost all video units in this analysis were auto-play ads.

Improved Measurement Metrics

Online video is one of the most popular new activities with consumers online. They provide marketers with improved audience engagement measurement, such s interaction rate, play rate, video completion rate. This is providing advertisers much greater insight into how consumers are actually engaging with the ads and their brands. More on Rich Media Performance Measurement