Online Ads

Google announces AdSense for Games

Pete Wylie — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:54:44 -0400

After announcing a click-to-buy feature in YouTube videos, Google continued to roll out big plans for online video ads this week, as it announced the release of a beta for AdSense for Games. With the new ad format, game developers will be able to drop text, video or image ads into their games and earn revenue in the process.

The ad displays are completely customizable, and developers are free to position them at any point in their games, such as between levels or after losing a life. Google reported that the ads would be targeted demographically and contextually, and that the ads would be sold through its AdWords sales staff. Google's 2006 acquisition of Adscape Media, which pioneered game ad placement, now appears to be bearing its first fruit.

Google is only opening the beta program to established game developers; to be included, a game must have 500,000 or more plays and derive 50 percent or more of its traffic from the U.S. and U.K.

It remains to be seen how successful or popular the ad model will be. Gamers are finicky and will complain if ads are at all intrusive. But when ads are integrated into the game experience, such as in the Grand Theft Auto series, gamers tend to have a positive response to the "reality" that real advertisements lend the game. Advertisers will also need coaxing to accept a model without significant click-through metrics.

For more:
- see coverage of the launch at Information Week here

SPOTLIGHT: Online video ad spends might slide

Pete Wylie — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:28:26 -0400

The recent financial meltdown could begin to have adverse effects on online video advertising, according to a buinsessweek.com article. eMarketer, which issued bullish predictions for ad spend growth in October 2007, has since adjusted projected online ad spends in 2008 and 2009.

The eMarketer report projects online ad spend growth of 17.4 percent in 2008 and 14.5 percent in 2009, down from the 25.6 percent growth witnessed in 2007. Most companies investing heavily online are expected to stick to traditional, easily measurable ad formats like search advertising, rather than risk their ad dollars on banner ads or overlays.

For more:
- see the businessweek.com article

Most viewers watch full pre-roll ads

Pete Wylie — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:07:48 -0400

A study released Monday by BreakMedia claims more than three quarters of viewers of online video pre-roll and overlay ads watch to completion. The company, which used its 18 to 39 year-old male-targeted site break.com to complete the 11-week-study, enlisted Honda, T-Mobile and truTV to run the monitored ad campaigns.

Results indicate that 87 percent of viewers completed watching 15-second pre-roll ads and 77 percent of viewers watched overlay campaigns for at least 15 seconds. Panache, a Los Angeles video ad placement company, deployed the campaigns used in the study.

After reports last week of the surging market for online video ads, this study shores up hopes for a vibrant online video ad market that monetizes content and gives advertisers significant results for their buys.

For more:
- beet.tv article discussing online video ads

Analysts project huge growth in online video ads

Pete Wylie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:55:07 -0400

Online video analysts offer very different predictions for total growth in revenue over the next five years, but they almost all agree that the market will grow exponentially. According to an E-Marketer report released today, online advertising spending is expected to increase tenfold by 2013. The report estimates that by 2012, 62 percent of the U.S. population and 88 percent of the internet audience will view an online video at least once a month, validating the rapid expansion of ad expenditure in this area.

In a July 2008 report, the Diffusion Group estimated that the strongest ad growth will come from short-clip and long-form videos, which will employ a mix of pre and post-roll, overlay, and new interstitial and pause ads to reach the burgeoning consumer base. The report estimates that there will be four times as many total video streams within five years, increasing from 126 million presently to 559 million in 2013. But the report expects even swifter growth specifically from short-clip and long form streams, 500 percent and 700 percent respectively.

The question remains for the best way to monetize the explosion of content and viewership, but most industry analysts foresee an exciting and dynamic future for revenue production in online video. The Diffusion report projects a whopping 17-fold increase in annual online video ad revenue by 2013, with growth from $590 million in 2008 to nearly $10 billion in 2013. The E-Marketer report is more conservative, predicting total annual video ad revenue of nearly $6 billion in 2013.

Factors influencing the respective predictions included economic conditions, audience tolerance of various ad methods and advertiser adoption of online video buys.

For more:
- read the full E-Marketer report

Related Articles:
Online ads gaining traction.
Interesting take on mobile vs. online video ads
Another Diffusion prediction

Online video ads gaining traction

Jim O'Neill — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:27:03 -0400

Online video ads proved surprisingly popular in a survey of advertising formats across the U.S., U.K. and Europe. The Dynamic Logic survey of 2,308 respondents in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Germany found online video ads were having an increasing impact across all markets, second only to banner ads as most popular.

In fact, online video ads scored "very positive" or "somewhat positive" with 38 percent of respondents in Italy, 33 percent in Spain and 29 percent in Germany.

And the amount of online video watched continues to grow, with 70 percent of Internet users in every major European market, the U.S. (83 percent) and the U.K. (76 percent) having watched video clips. Italy (90 percent) and Spain (87 percent) watch the most daily.

While earlier research showed online video ads tend to break through the clutter and positively influence brand perceptions, how long they should be, placement and frequency is still up for debate. Germans seem the most patient, willing to sit through 30-45 seconds of ads on a five-minute clip; the French prefer five seconds or less. Mon Dieu!

For more:
- Check out the Marketing Week story

Related articles:
Online video ads ready to roll in Europe
Survival tips for short-form video ads