• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, May 8, 2012

Consumer packaged goods marketers upped their spending in online video in the first quarter of 2012. CPG has been the top category in online video by most accounts including the latest analysis from online video ad technology firm Videology reporting that the CPG category rose to 37% of the total online video ad spend for the first quarter of 2012, up from 32% in the fourth quarter of 2011. Those figures come from ads Videology served.

With a likely boost from tax season, finance took the second slot rising to 12.5% of the spend for the quarter, up from 5.5% in the fourth quarter of 2011. Auto’s share of the online video pie dropped significantly to 6.2% in the first quarter from 21% in the fourth quarter, Videology said. However, the fourth quarter is a heavy spending time for auto makers trying to move inventory, while first quarter auto marketing is often dominated by TV spending.

Telecom and retail remained in the top 5 categories for online video ad spending, Videology said, each with around 10% share.

Advertisers are getting savvier with their targeting. While only one-quarter of online video ads were targeted beyond the basic age and sex demos, of those there was an increase in daypart targeting from 14% to 27% quarter over quarter.