I agree that video works and clearly there is a user revolution underway against all media. My concern about this study is that it did not take into account any of the user initiated video ads like those offered by In Text advertising providers. The user wants to be in control of their ad consumption. When offered a solution to engage with the 30 second spot on there own terms as opposed to a traditional pre-roll, I am confident that the same study with pre-roll, in-page, post-roll and no-roll (In text) would yield result of no roll as the winner.

I'm not sure we can extrapolate from this study the long term effectiveness of 30 sec pre-rolls. Throughout the history of the net, whenever a new advertising form factor appeared it out-performed (remember 2% CTR on banner ads?) Users' primary expectation online is control- i.e. control of the content they consumer, control of the advertising they consume. One of the biggest reasons for the success of paid search listings has been that there is a value exchange between user and advertiser- user says if you are relevant to me you will get my attention. As a result, the ROI of paid search has consistently surpassed that of almost any other medium. The challenge with the 30 sec pre-roll is that it breaks the user expectation of control, and moves the whole medium back into the realm of the Wannamaker dilemma-50% of the spend is wasted, but nobody can tell which 50%. By forcing users to consumer pre-rolls, I believe we are ultimately capping the growth of consumption of online video, and the long term effectiveness of the advertising. -Tom Wilde CEO, EveryZing.com

Currently there is a serious dearth innovative interactive video creative in order to suitably offer users a viable alternative. This is partly due to the fragmented delivery mechanisms hampering creativity and unwillingness of clients to be pioneering at this stage. At this moment in time the brand message of video should be complemented by a companion advert allowing a user to interact on screen without leaving their entertainment environment once the message has disappeared - are we really likely to expect users to click away at this point? Length of content must also have a bearing on advert length and be proportionate to it. Intrusive advertising needs to be much more synergistic with the immersive experience digital can offer a user - "nice shirt -> roll-over -> ah so that what it is -> order one". What other medium can claim three senses simultaneously engaged - not only sight and sound, but also touch. This drives the experience deeper into a users psyche meaning greater brand recall later on - just don't expect me to click there and then... after all, do you expect me to pick up the phone immediately when I see a TV ad?! Dean Donaldson - InStream Advertising Evangelist - Eyeblaster UK