Online, mobile video growth improves next-gen ad strategies

Online/mobile video advertising is getting a shot in the arm thanks to the consumers embracing tablets and other platforms for digital media consumption and watching longer video. The question, however, becomes how brands and service providers will capitalise on the trends in order to best drive user engagement.

The most recent study from comScore found that 183 million U.S. Internet users watched 37 billion web-based videos in October, including 11 billion online video ads. So, video ads made up over 22% of online video seen and 1.6% of the total minutes of web video seen by consumers. And TV on tablets in particular is driving consumption trends in new directions—specifically, up. According to Frank N. Magid Associates, 54% of tablet users report watching video on their tablets on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, Ooyala's new Q3 2012 Global Video Index shows that video usage on tablets has grown 90% over last two quarters.

Another shift in the market is an elongation in viewing times. On average, according to comScore, more than 88% of U.S. web users watched at least one online video last month, which on average was just over six minutes in length. Meanwhile, the average online video ad watched by web users was just under half a minute long. But there are pockets where that is notably longer. For instance, while portable screen consumption has in the past tended towards "snacking" on video in short bursts, the Ooyala report finds that most time spent viewing on tablets is now actually long-form content, with more consumers watching television shows and movies. Overall, nearly three quarters (71%) of tablet viewing is of videos that are 10 minutes or longer. A full 30% is spent watching content more than an hour long.

Other platforms are driving longer viewing times as well. For instance, the amount of time users spent watching live video on gaming consoles more than doubled in the third quarter, while desktop viewers tuned into live video for an average of 40 minutes at a time.

Much of this boils down to better availability of content. "A lot happened in the world of video during the third quarter of 2012," said Ooyala's Greg Franzeze, in the company blog. "Olympic fever took over London (and the world), the iPad 3 was released in China, and the U.S. election picked up steam. Q3 also saw the launch of the PAC-12 Networks [a hybrid broadcast/online video initiative powered by Ooyala], an event that raised the bar for digital sports broadcasting."