As popular as social media is, many TV viewers still tune into the TV listings on the set itself to figure out what to watch. They also spend a lot of time in the electronic program guide, suggesting that the guide itself can be mined by marketers for untapped ad opportunities.

Despite all the reassuring data for TV buyers claiming that most Americans watch just as much TV as they ever have, Google and Nielsen found that a combination of YouTube and Google's Display Network added four incremental percentage points of reach to a TV buy targeting the lightest TV viewer. What's more, that reach was delivered at 8% the cost of a TV spot.

YouTube is tracking its rising talent over on its blog. If you're keen on sponsoring videos on cooking skills or blues guitar lessons, check out the creators that YouTube is nominating for its On The Rise channel, where it regularly features talent whose viewcounts are ticking up. Also, YouTube partner Mondo Media, best known for its mega animated hit "Happy Tree Friends," has said it expects YouTube CPMs to rise for content in the YouTube original channels program.

Our appetite for online videos -- and the ads that accompany them -- keeps growing. The amount of time spent watching online video grew about 46% in April compared to the year before, according to an analysis of comScore's just-released April 2012 online video viewership figures. Interestingly, comScore's data reveals that while the number of unique viewers rose only 5% - from 172 million in April 2011 to 181 million in April 2012 -- they are watching a lot more video.

According to a Tubefilter analysis of comScore's online video rankings, the average length of an online video is 6.4 minutes, 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 question that social video, social media and social TV are hot. Nearly every network has some sort of social media tie-in for a show, be it USA Network's recent work with Viggle for "To Kill a Mockingbird," or Discovery integrating tweets into shows. Are social tie-ins like this a gimmick or do they last?

Tablet owners use the devices at home three-quarters of the time, according to a study conducted by Viacom. In the home, 96% of consumers use them in the living room; 94% in the bedroom, 75% in the home office, 70% on the porch and 68% in the kitchen. With these usage statistics, perhaps marketers should look more closely at their video strategies for tablets?

This is a tough week for online video to get any attention. It's TV upfront time, and the broadcast networks are touting their new fall lineups to Madison Avenue. Sure, digital extensions and online video add-ons will be part of many shows' marketing efforts during the season, but the reality is online video won't get much play at the TV upfront.

We need standards. That's long been the rallying cry of online video. But another rallying cry has been - we're different from TV, so measure us differently. Ah, but you can't really have it all. Because it turns out that the legacy medium with its reach and frequency GRPs may win in the metrics battle for online video. The trend started with Tremor Video inking its Nielsen deal last fall to incorporate Nielsen's ratings GRPs into online video buys to give advertisers a metric for gross reach across screens.

Remember that adage about consumers opting for the best screen available to watch video? This theory supposes that viewers will first choose a big-screen TV, then a PC, then a tablet, then a mobile phone to watch video, if all are options. The theory may still hold true, but there is increasing evidence that size doesn't matter.