Online video network Vevo and ISP AOL were the third- and fourth-ranked US online video properties by unique viewer in November 2010, according to comScore VideoMetrix data. Vevo, with 50.3 million unique viewers, and AOL, with 47.7 million unique viewers, beat familiar entities such as Facebook.com (42.5 million) and Microsoft (35.5 million) for the month. comScore cited AOL’s September 2010 purchase of instructional video provider 5min as contributing to its strong overall performance.
YouTube Fuels Google Dominance
As is always the case, Google sites clearly dominated the US online video market in November 2010 with 145.8 million unique viewers, more than double the 61.8 million unique viewers recorded by number two Yahoo sites. Google owns YouTube, the unquestioned leader in online video, which accounts for most of its online video activity.
Google also comfortably led in viewing sessions (1.9 billion, compared to 261.2 million on viewing session number two Vevo) and minutes per viewer (271.2, compared to 85.4 on minutes per viewer number two Vevo).
VideoMetrix data shows 172 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in November 2010. The total US internet audience engaged in nearly 5.2 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month, with an average of 884.6 minutes per viewer.
Vevo, AOL Surpass Yahoo in Some Key Stats
It is interesting to note that rankings according to number of sessions and minutes per viewer did not come out quite the same as rankings according to unique viewer. In addition to Vevo ranking second in these areas, AOL ranked third in viewing sessions, while Viacom Digital ranked third in minutes per viewer.
Yahoo only ranked fourth in viewing sessions and fifth in minutes per viewer. Microsoft (third) and AOL (fourth) also beat Yahoo in the minutes per viewer category. Vevo is the online video provider that is closest to YouTube in design and functionality, so it will bear watching to see how Vevo’s performance compares to Google’s in the coming months.
Hulu Generates Most Ad Views
Americans viewed more than 5.4 billion video ads in November 2010, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at more than 1.1 billion. Tremor Media Video Network ranked second overall (and highest among video ad networks) with 477 million ad views, followed by ADAP.TV (446 million) and Microsoft Sites (427 million).
Video ads reached 49% of the total US population an average of 36.8 times during the month. CWTV.com delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 68.5 during the course of the month after recently starting to run full ad-loads comparable to those of television.
Other Findings
- The top video ad networks in terms of their potential reach of the total US population were: ScanScout Network at 44%, BrightRoll Video Network at 41% and Break Media at 40%.
- 84% of the US internet audience viewed online video.
- The duration of the average online content video was 5.1 minutes, while the average online video ad was 0.4 minutes.
- Video ads accounted for 15% of all videos viewed and 1% of all minutes spent viewing video online.
Video Advertising Grows in Effectiveness
Video advertising, both display and pre-roll, leads to purchase intent for 1.4% of all viewers that saw an ad, a number that’s grown for three consecutive quarters and is more effective than other mediums, according to a recent study from TubeMogul. Rich media and simple flash advertising both lead to purchase intent for less than 1% of all viewers, with rich media improving during 2009 and rich media decreasing in effectiveness last year.
