• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, September 28, 2009

Higher interaction rates, or video completion rates -- what would you rather your online ads achieve? For the former, focus on expandable formats, while in-page formats are more likely to achieve the latter, according to new research from social media ad optimization firm Lotame. "Of the banner types in the social media space, we found that video creative had higher click-through rates than non-video units, with in-page units performing better on average from a CTR standpoint than expandable ads," the report reads.

When compared on the three most common banner sizes within Lotame's network of sites, the firm found that wide skyscrapers (160x600) had the highest click-through rate performance, followed by medium rectangles (300x250) and leaderboards (728x90), which had roughly the same click-through rate performance.

The study, which factored in consumer usage data from over 250 publishers, also concluded that click-through rates are not the best metric to determine a rich media ad's effectiveness.

"Up to this point, click-based performance on social-based inventory has been below average," the study finds. "When we looked to interaction rate, another popular measure of campaign performance, we found a different story. Where social media click-through rates were often half of DoubleClick rates, social media interaction rates observed on the Lotame Co-op were often more than 2x higher than DoubleClick interaction rate benchmarks."

These lower rates were a persistent trend across each ad size examined (728x90, 300x250, and 160x600), rich media format (video vs. non-video, expandable vs. non-expandable), and industry.

While users in the social media space may be less apt to click on banner ads, the study concludes, it seems that they interact with them at a higher rate and in a more meaningful fashion when it comes to video, particularly with regard to campaigns for products in the entertainment industry.