Right after I posted about the growing audience for online video, I came across this article about how much advertisers are spending on online video ads.
This year saw 82% growth in spending for a total of roughly $410 million.
Next year is projected to be even higher, with 89% growth totaling $775 million.
By 2008, online video ad sales are projected to break the BILLION dollar mark. That's BILLION, people. With a 'B'!
Why? According to the article, ad buyers are starting to accept the promise of online video, and they're seeing great ROI. Video ads convert a LOT better than the previous generation of banner ads.
But as always, we're talking about walking a fine line here.
We're in the incubation stage of this new advertising medium. The early adopters are doing the experiments that will tell the rest of the marketplace what works and what doesn't: size, placement, running time, etc.
Most places are pairing the commercial video with the free video content in the form of "pre-roll" ads. I'm sure all you have watched a clip on a site somewhere and had to sit through a commercial first, right? That's a "pre-roll", but studies are showing that a significant segment of the internet audience immensely dislikes that kind of separation from content.
However, audiences are becoming more accepting of these kinds of practices, and the article implies that it's because audiences understand the tradeoff between free, ad-supported content.
Some content providers are even trying both sides. ABC offers their shows free online with ads, OR you can buy the content outright via iTunes and not have to sit through the ads.
Personally, I think this is the best solution. I'm a huge fan of the democratizing nature of the internet.
The internet puts control of the media back into the hands of the public, and allows them to better inform marketers about what the marketplace wants. But for the provider, there are still costs involved in production. It's not much different than the difference between shows on your major networks which are broadcast for free with ads, compared to premium pay shows, like the Sopranos on HBO.
No matter what medium you're working in, you should always try to utilize that medium's unique strength. Giving the customer the CHOICE to either pay for the content, or see supporting ads for free content, works to the unique strength of the internet as a whole, which is CHOICE.
In the past, that choice has been a problem for e-commerce, in that if you didn't give the customer what they wanted, they would choose to bail out on you and visit your competitor. For these content providers, rather than lose potential customers to piracy and illegal file-trading of their content, they let the customer choose how to "buy" that product -- with their money or their time. The content producer makes their money BOTH ways, either directly from the consumer, or from the advertiser who will pay for their time and attention.
The producers win, the advertisers win, and the customers win. And it's because of this "all-win" scenario that by 2010, online video ads will be a $2.9 BILLION industry.
That’s with a B.
Add to : del-icio-us
No comments:
Post a Comment