• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, May 18, 2012

Want more evidence that consumers are willing and eager to watch longer video online?

Tubefilter analyzed comScore's most recent online video rankings and mined this interesting gem — the average length of an online video is 6.4 minutes and the length is growing by 12 seconds each month -- 54 seconds over the past six months and 1 minute and 12 seconds year-over-year. That’s quite a fast uptick.

There's no guarantee that the numbers will keep rising, but Tubefilter calculated a 20% increase in length each year. That means we could hit a full half hour as the average length by 2021.

There is other evidence too to bolster these predictions. FreeWheel said in its latest analysis of video ad trends that mid-roll ad volume for the first quarter more than doubled over last year as more long-form content came online. Midrolls account for 23% of all video ad views, up from 17% a year ago. Midrolls also have the highest completion rates at more than 80%.