Media Buyers Predict Upswing In Online Video Ad Spend

The birth of mobile video inventory, increased adoption of industry standards and better targeting tools are all contributing to a healthy market for video advertising, according to a new report from BrightRoll.

According to the online video ad services provider, 28% of media buyers revealed that they expect to see the greatest increase in ad spending in the online video category for 2011, followed by mobile video (27%) and social media (25%).

What's more, 86% of respondents said they are shifting at least part of their display dollars over to video, while 64% plan to shift TV dollars to video. Budgets are also migrating from search, social media and direct response, though in slightly more modest numbers at 28%, 27% and 26%, respectively.

According to BrightRoll's third annual Online Video Advertising Report, nearly two-thirds of respondents indicated that online video is equally as effective, if not more effective, than television advertising.

"Looking over the results of this year's survey, it's clear that online video is fast becoming a fixture in the media buyer's toolkit," said BrightRoll CEO Tod Sacerdoti. "The industry continues to deliver improvements in campaign targeting, reporting and effectiveness."

Also of note, 41% of media buyers view targeting as online video advertising's greatest attribute, representing an increase of nine percentage points from 2010.

For the third year in a row, buying directly from online publishers was reported as the dominant means of purchasing inventory (52%), followed by ad networks (31%), broadcasters (10%), portals (6%) and ad exchanges (2%).

Moreover, 96% of respondents indicated that research into the efficacy of online video helps drive value for advertisers, though just 35% are conducting research of their own.

The 2011 Online Video Advertising Report is part of a larger company-wide initiative to further industry research, and comes on the heels of BrightRoll's recent $1M pledge toward advancing research initiatives in the space.

The report includes new data that shows planned spending on online video is growing faster than all other online categories, with dollars being re-allocated in large part from TV and display ad budgets.

Findings from the 2009 and 2010 surveys highlighted online video as an emerging category, though respondents expressed concerns over the lack of well-defined success metrics and a shortage of accepted industry standards.

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