Nearly 7% of video streamed by
top content-delivery networks is slow-loading, indicating that Web video still falls short of offering TV-quality viewing, according to new findings by video analytics firm TubeMogul.
The
study was based on a sample of 192 streams over two weeks from CDNs including Akamai, Limelight, Edgecast, Panther/CD Networks and Bit Gravity. The companies collectively help to power video across
thousands of sites, including popular video-centric properties like Metacafe, msnbc.com and ESPN.
TubeMogul also found that when users encounter mid-stream rebuffering (when the little progress
wheel pops up), 81% bail out on the video. That means post-roll ads attached to balky video clips largely go unseen and views of halting stand-alone video ads are not completed.
"The
technology just isn't there yet to have a TV-like experience," said David Burch, marketing director at TubeMogul. "And if it's an advertiser hosting video on a branded site or distributing it across
the Web, people are just clicking away when they see that spinning wheel."
Among the five CDNs covered in the firm's analysis, Limelight performed best, with slow load times 4% of the time. It
was followed by Panther Networks (5%), Akamai (8%), Edgecast (9.5%), and BitGravity (12.5%).
Regardless of quality, the popularity of Web video continues to grow. The average time Americans
spent watching online video jumped 35% to three hours, 24 minutes in the third quarter compared to a year ago, according to the latest Three Screen report from Nielsen. The total number of viewers
increased 15% to 138 million.
And speaking of slow, have you tried watching a video on the new Google-powered Vevo video music hub? The service owned by Universal Music Group, Sony and Abu Dhabi
has been overwhelmed in its opening days, making videos extremely slow to load and play. In a blog post yesterday, Vevo acknowledged the problem and assured it was working on ensuring that the site
runs smoothly. But as of today, it's still a slow-motion disaster.