Companies attempting to monetize online video have some good news: the majority of digital video viewers say ads are a "reasonable" tradeoff for free video.

A survey by Ipsos MediaCT of internet users 12 and older, conducted in February, found that 3 out of 4 video watchers thought advertising within full-length TV shows and movies was a fair exchange for free content. Two-thirds of consumers said ads would also be reasonable alongside music videos, news and sports clips.

"Nobody is going to tell you they love advertising," Ipsos director Adam Wright told Advertising Age. "But the [survey] confirmed the notion that people get the give and take."

While the news is good for professionally made material, it's a different story for the amateur content that abounds on video-sharing websites. More than half of the survey respondents said it was unreasonable for ads to accompany free amateur or homemade video.

That could be bad news for YouTube, the most popular video destination. Google has made monetizing YouTube priority No.1, and while YouTube has tried to offer more high-end content, it also recently announced it will serve pre- and post-roll ads with select videos.