YouTube Experimenting with Skippable Pre-roll Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 11, 2009 - 2:00pm.

San Bruno, Calif. - Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube has begun experimenting with skippable pre-roll ads before some videos, in a bid to increase ad value for advertisers while also giving users some input into the ads to which they're exposed.

The company said that when it began testing pre-roll ads in 2007, as many as 70% of viewers abandoned watching a video before the ad concluded -- and that users were far more likely to watch and engage with overlay ads.

YouTube added that when a pre-roll is limited to 15 seconds in length, completion rates were as high as 85%, and that the quality and relevance of the ad plays a major factor.

"Viewers online tend to be much more active in making choices about what they watch," YouTube said on its blog, adding that it has learned that "advertisers are often willing to pay more money for an engaged opt-in view, as opposed to a forced view like an in-stream ad, so this also has the potential to increase CPMs."

Published in DMW Daily, November 11, 2009

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tags: Video | Advertising | Google | YouTube |

Comments

I find it very encouraging

Submitted by Katie (not verified) on November 13, 2009 - 8:08am.

I find it very encouraging that YouTube is experimenting with different ad formats and marrying that with an effort to better the user experience. It is still unclear whether an ad model will ever drive enough revenue to support the operating costs of delivering online video - but online video is still supported by ads and its good to know the industry is trying to make it better.