The movement of a video in a crowded web page clearly catches the eye, but is it worth the cost? This is where high definition stands out.
In this economic climate, more questions are being raised regarding the effectiveness of various advertising formats with everyone wanting to get the biggest bang for their buck. Advertisers continue turn to video ads to provide these returns.
As recent research published by eMarketer* indicates, video is expected to be the format with the strongest growth for the rest of 2009.
Eyeblaster's Research Department has been examining annually what percentage of worldwide impressions are video.
In 2008 data showed clear growth in most verticals, with the lead verticals, Entertainment and Tech/Internet, having video in more than 50 percent of their impressions.
The movement of a video in a crowded web page clearly catches the eye, but is it worth the cost? A clear positive correlation was found between the "Dwell Duration" (the time the user was engaged with the ad) and the fact that the ad had a video in it. This can be clearly seen in eight out of the top ten verticals using video. In some verticals such as Gaming, adding video increased the dwell duration by more than 200 percent.
So having video seems to be effective, however if the competition also uses video there needs to be a way to continue to stand out. This can of course be achieved through great creative and great technology -- enter High Definition (HD).
HD keeps the viewer more engaged, encouraging them to see a larger portion of the video. One can clearly see from the graph below that HD video has provided an impressive 12.4 percent lift in fully viewed video with most viewers showing a tendency to view all the way when it comes to HD.
The new Terminator Salvation advertisement, currently running across Yahoo!7 in Australia, is a fresh example of the new HD video technology. Essentially, HD video technology detects the user's bandwidth and if the user has capability via a fast enough internet speed it will allow the HD option to download. If the user's internet speed is slower, the ad will still run, but on a smaller ad unit.
For the end user, the new HD format that is served through a full screen ad unit, providing a richer experience online, which increases engagement, particularly for clients such as Sony Pictures where movie trailers are obviously meant to be viewed in a format similar to TV.
For the advertiser, the flexibility of the technology to run the ads to the highest capability of a user's bandwidth means they are assured that the consumer can experience the ad in one form or another -- but with an emphasis on optimal engagement through HD where possible. This is obviously the direction that online video will travel in Australia, as the US and UK are currently streaming video ads requiring between 20-60mbs to run successfully.
* US Online Advertising Revenue Growth, by Format, 2008 & 2009 (percentage change) -- eMarketer
Mick O'Brien is vice-president for operations, Asia Pacific, at Eyeblaster.