PointRoll has released data [pdf] from its upcoming 2012 Benchmark Report, revealing that in-stream video ads achieved an average click-through rate (CTR) of 0.62% last year, far outpacing mobile (0.15%), rich media (0.14%) and standard banner (0.1%) ads. The findings support a similar conclusion reached earlier this year by DG MediaMind, which also found in-stream video ads to outperform those other formats, though with vastly different benchmark figures. (The DG MediaMind report put the US benchmark CTR for in-stream video at 1.11%, and mobile at 0.88%).
In-stream video ads boasted an interaction rate of 5.68%, according to the PointRoll study, ahead of rich media (4.02%) and mobile (0.96%). Overall, the volume of in-stream video ads served was up by 37% year-over-year.
Compared to standard in-stream pre-roll ads, interactive in-stream video campaigns achieved a 13% higher click-through rate (0.68% v. 0.6%) and a 16% higher 100% completion rate (84.2% vs. 72.8%).
Looking at in-stream video benchmarks by site type, the study shows that kids and family sites sported the highest CTR, of 1.87%, followed by home and garden (1.36%) sites, the only other type to exceed a 1% CTR on average. On the other end of the spectrum, music and streaming media (0.4%) sites saw the lowest CTR. Sorting the data by completion rate, business and finance emerges as the leading site type, with a 77% completion rate, followed by portals and search engines (74.5%) and sports and recreation (74.4%).
Finally, breaking out the figures by vertical, the researchers reveal that travel and tourism (1.47%) boasted the highest CTR, followed by food and beverage manufacturers (1.06%), with non-profit organizations (0.37%) and consumer goods manufacturers (0.43%) on the low end. The restaurants and food service category saw the highest completion rate, of 81.6%, while retail had just a 34% completion rate.
