Online video ads are reaching an ever-growing number of Americans, but how many are being seen? A new study [download page] from VideoHub indicates that during the first quarter, average viewability for online video ads in the US was 83%, although rates varied widely among properties, from 43% on the low end to 94% on the high end. Broadcast TV sites fared best (89% on average) among property categories, with networks and exchanges (73%) bringing up the rear.
VideoHub says it’s the only MRC-accredited technology for a viewability solution for video, and defines average viewability percentage as “the number of an ad’s pixels you saw divided by the number of pixels you could have seen.”
54% of online ads aren’t viewed, comScore recently estimated, though in-view rates tended to be higher for premium sites. (Viewability in that case was defined as 50% of pixels being in-view for at least one second.)
The VideoHub report covers a host of different topics related to online video ads. Following is a list of highlights:
- Video ad delivery was fairly constant throughout the day, although completion rates tended to be higher for ads delivered during primetime hours;
- CPG was the largest advertising vertical, at 31% share of ads, a finding that aligns with similar data from Videology;
- The average completion rate of a video ad was 85%, though completion rates ranged from 34-100%;
- Completion rates were highest for the largest player sizes, generally declining alongside smaller player sizes;
- The average click-through rate (CTR) for a video ad was 1.07%, though the range was also wide (0.6%-8.7%);
- 1-3 minute videos and videos at least one hour in length had the same completion rate (83%), although average CTR was much higher for the longer videos;
- A majority 53% of VideoHub’s ads were delivered towards women; and
- Exactly one-half of the ads were delivered towards 18-34-year-olds, although this group was least likely to click on an ad.
About the Data: All data was collected from VideoHub for Advertisers (VHA) platform between January 1 – March 31, 2013. The results reflect analysis of 2.3 billion ad impressions from 44 media properties.
