Approximately 88% of all video ads streamed in Q1 2012 were fully visible to viewers found VideoHub, the end-to-end analytics and monetization platform for video. The company's Q1 2012 Performance Replay report provides a snapshot of video ad and content across 3.5 billion monetized videos.
The significance is that only 12% of video ads were completely or partially obstructed on a screen, or showing up at the bottom of a screen (requiring scroll-down) in some auto-load that no advertiser wants. Likely, that has much to do with the higher premiums paid for rich media ads versus display (even interactive display); but also with the TV-like analytics and that marketers and agencies demand for video ads. Just as they listen to ensure that radio ads run and scan primetime broadcasts looking for their ad placements, they scrutinize video ads.
VideoHub has is essentially applied the Interactive Advertisers Bureau (IAB) standards for display advertising to video ads. Of the 3.5 billion video streams analyzed, 7% were partially obstructed, while viewers never saw the remaining 5%. That 88% applies to all player sizes (e.g., desktops, laptops and tablets).
The report offers insights into the adoption of the gross ratings point (GRP) in the digital ecosystem. In late 2011 VideoHub integrated Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings deep into its platform, providing a real-time bridge across screens with 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. 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, but digital viewing patterns shift to primetime when TV is in its finale season (Q4), with the highest streaming between 4 and 9 P.M. During Q1 2012, when most TV series went on hiatus, digital viewership was highest between 12 and 4 p.m, and back to primetime as Q1 progressed and midseason shows premiered.
Earlier this month, Google unveiled a tool (In-Page Analytics) specifically aimed at optimizing a site’s content, analyzing the percentage of visitors for whom page elements “fell beneath the fold” (offscreen). This too measures visibility across screen sizes, but, applies specifically to display ads.
Digiday in its "April State of the Industry Survey," sponsored by adap.tv, revealed that brands and agencies are planning their online video/TV ad buys together (for example, in a unified campaign) and demand the same analytics on both platforms—chiefly, the GRPs, which Google also introduced into its DoubleClick For Advertisers offering.
