• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, October 13, 2011

Pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll? Overlaid streaming-all-the-way-through-the-video-roll? 

Backed by various findings, experts and experienced hands have gone back and forth over the best time to roll advertising into streaming video.

Now, Vindico, the video ad-serving and tracking division of Broadband Enterprises (BBE), claims to have settled the debate once and for all. The best roll? Mid-roll, it finds -- at least within long-form video environments.

According to proprietary research, Vindico found that 93% of mid-roll video ads were viewed in their entirety, compared with 83% completion of post-roll video ads, and 85% completion of pre-roll video ads.

Pre- and post-roll ads are attached to most ad-supported content regardless of length, whereas mid-roll ad placements are typically found only in longer-form online content, such as in the middle of a TV program or movie.

“The industry has grown accustomed to predominantly using pre-roll ads as the main vehicle for delivering brand messages via video,” said Matt Timothy, president of Vindico. “However, our data shows that online viewers may respond better to mid-roll ads particularly because they are delivered within ‘full meal’ video environments as opposed to ‘snacking’ opportunities, such as a movie trailer or video clip.”

As a result, mid-roll within episodic content where the viewer is invested in watching the full video event tends to offer higher completion rates, Timothy added. Advertisers, he said, should consider giving more emphasis to mid-roll when developing their video media plans.

The study also found that many video ad campaigns that run in long-form environments lack sufficient labeling of pod position, which points to an opportunity to better understand online viewing behavior.

What makes Vindico such an authority on the subject? It claims to serve nearly 40% of all video ads online, and works with the likes of GroupM, Havas, IPG, Publicis and Omnicom. Over the past year, the division reports delivering more than 15.7 billion video ad impressions, including five billion video ads during the second quarter -- up from 1.8 billion year-over-year.