• by Shankar Gupta , December 20, 2006

Most Web users--56%--recall ads embedded in video content, according to a study released Tuesday by Burst Media.

But that doesn't mean users like the ads; more than three-quarters of those surveyed (78%) said such ads were intrusive. What's more, 62% of respondents said the ads disrupted their Web surfing experience, while 48% said they typically stop watching video after they encounter an ad. Of the group that stops watching due to an ad, 28% said they leave the Web site immediately upon noticing the ad.

Twenty-one percent of respondents said they pay less attention to video ads than they do to standard creatives on the same page, and 42% say they pay about the same amount of attention to each.

Burst also reported that men are significantly more likely to watch video content online than women. Seventy-six percent of male respondents said they watched video content online, compared to 60% of female respondents. Women are more likely than men to say video ads disrupt their Web surfing experience--65% versus 60%. The most popular type of video content to view online are news clips--with 45% of respondents saying they viewed such content online, followed by movie trailers and advertising at 37%, comedy at 34%, music at 32%, and TV shows and clips at 31%.

The study, based on an online survey of 2,600 adults, was conducted last month.