• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, December 8, 2006

The future of online advertising is still taking shape, but at least one type of ad may not be around long: the 30-second pre-roll spot. That's according to Curt Hecht, chief digital officer at GM Planworks, Starcom MediaVest Group's dedicated media unit for General Motors, who spoke about the topic Thursday at an industry conference.

Consumer acceptance of pre-roll ads is "completely undetermined," said Hecht, at a panel on advertising trends of the Fortune 500 at a Cowen and Company Internet conference. "I don't think we know yet what the consumer wants."

Forcing Internet users to watch a repurposed 30-second TV ad before a one-minute clip doesn't make much sense, he said. He suggested that post-roll ads could ultimately become a more successful model than pre-rolls because they are less intrusive and catch consumers right before they go on to another activity, online or offline.

While the guaranteed impressions delivered by pre-roll ads appeal to marketers, they won't amount to much if they end up alienating viewers. "If it's not driving engagement, then the value proposition on pre-roll will be challenged," said Hecht.

Online video advertising has sparked great interest among marketers and publishers because of its promise of high CPMs and better branding than banners. The category is forecast to grow by 71% this year to $225 million by market research firm eMarketer.

Dan Goodman, senior partner and executive director at OgilvyInteractive, defended online video ads in the context of full-length TV shows streamed on network broadband sites such as CBS Innertube and NBC Rewind.

But the audience for online TV is still very small; to date, short clips have gained more traction with Web users. Goodman himself said he only turns to the Web to for video-on-demand when his TiVo goes down.

In comments following the panel, Hecht said online video might borrow a page from PBS, where programs are preceded by brief sponsorship acknowledgements. "I really think that as a core model, having a lighter introduction and then something more substantial at the end makes more sense," he said.

Hecht noted that GM has experimented with a variety of Internet video ad formats formats from five-second pre-rolls to video marketing sites such as Living.com, which featured rich media and GM product integration. But he said more market research is needed to figure out what format is most effective. "We're interested in seeing where the model is going to go," he said.

GM's overall ad spend during the first nine months of 2006 is $1.75 billion, according to TNS Media Intelligence.