Commentary
Viewers Watch Ads 93% to Completion in Online TV Shows
- by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, November 20, 2012
Want video viewers to watch your ad? Make sure it runs in long-form video, like TV shows.
Even though 87% of all professional video views are for videos less than five minutes, the completion rates for ads in videos longer than 20 minutes remains much higher than in short videos, and mid-length videos.
Online video technology firm FreeWheel said in its recent report analyzing video and ad views that the completion rate for video ads in long-form programming was 93% in the third quarter, the highest it’s ever been and also the second quarter in a row during which the completion rate has checked in at above 90%. For most of last year, completion rates for ads in long-form videos were in the mid-80s range.
In fact, ad completion rates in long-form programming, which mostly includes TV shows, have risen nearly every quarter for the last two years. For instance, in the year-ago period, completion rates were 82%. This is even more promising for TV networks because the ad loads in long-form videos are averaging about 7 ads per 20-minute video, up from 5 ads a year ago. The ad load actually dropped from 8 to 7 in the third quarter compared to the second, but that is likely due to more re-runs of shows in the third quarter summer months. Freewheel expects the ad load to pick up again in the fourth quarter.
Maybe the ads are playing to 93% completion but if other people are like me, I have been successfully trained to either look at some other tab on my browser, do something else on my computer or pop out for a nature break. Just because the ad is playing does not mean that people are viewing.