"The takeaway is that nothing is lost and much can be gained. There is no downside in terms of bringing a brand-building message," Marianne Foley, senior vice president-strategic initiatives at Harris Interactive said referring to the impact of running TV commercials online.

For the study, whose findings were presented Monday morning during the opening day of the Advertising Research Foundation's Re:think 2008 conference in New York, Google tested the impact of running 30-second commercials from three major packaged goods categories - beverages, salty snacks, and skin care - on three different video platforms: conventional television, YouTube, and embedded in online content.

The study found that the commercials performed equally in all the major attributes on each of those platforms, but that embedded video ads might actually perform slightly better in terms of their ability to influence "purchase intent."

"It disabuses people of the notion that online is only good for direct response or transactional stuff," said Kevin Kells, industry development director-consumer packaged goods at Google. Kells acknowledged that the study was not a huge epiphany, and that it follows several other recent studies that have found similar conclusions. But he said Google commissioned it in hopes of overcoming a lingering perception among consumer packaged goods marketers once and for all.

Kells said many factors likely contribute to their reticence to convert TV budgets to online video, including structural and cultural reasons, but he added that the new research should help them overcome emotional barriers.

While the study did not test the impact of video ads crafted specifically for online video outlets, Kells and Foley said it would likely show even better results given the contextual influence of such advertising. They said Google also plans to test the impact of video ads on other "screen" platforms, including mobile and hand held devices, in the near future.

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