• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 4, 2017

That said, mobile users are more critical of some ads than others. Relative to other video ad formats, however, mobile users are most likely to find pre-rolls ads engaging.

Indeed, 54% of consumers found pre-roll ads on mobile “engaging,” while 44% said they prefer mid-roll video ads, and 37% prefer “out-stream” video ads -- or those that play outside of video content.

The research partners also found that mid-roll communicates brand messages particularly well on larger, more TV-like screens, while the format ranked higher in message recall for desktop viewers at 27% -- and especially compared to 8% for out-stream ads.  

Marketers should not totally write off out-stream video ads, however. That’s because when consumers do complete such ads, they are around 300% more likely to remember those ads.

For obvious reasons, however, mobile doesn’t offer the best canvas for out-stream ads.

Across platforms, pre-roll has best value for all brand metrics due to its familiarity and lack of perceived intrusiveness, the researchers found.

When considering multi-format media plans, it is important to think about how they are constructed, the researchers suggest.

This column was previously published in Moblog on April 17, 2017.