Audiences are most actively engaged when it comes to consuming video ads on tablets and smartphones, according to a new report by Adobe. The study also said viewers are increasingly likely to accept ‘TV-like ad experiences’ on the Web and found high audience engagement with ads during live online events and mid-roll commercial breaks.
The report compiled data gathered during the last six months of 2011, using a sample of 2.5 billion ad impressions served via Adobe Auditude, Adobe’s video ad management and monetization platform. Compared to Adobe’s data from the first six months of 2011, there has been an increase in the average number of video ads per content stream in professional, long form content and the record high completion rates for video ads.
Report Highlights:
- The mid-roll video ad format is the most engaging ad placement and outperforms completion rates of pre-roll and post-roll ads. With an 87 percent completion rate, mid-roll ads are performing almost 30 percent better than pre-rolls, comparable to traditional TV commercial breaks.
- Completion rates on mobile devices are the highest of any environment with 94 percent, suggesting that mobile viewers are more engaged and open to watching ads on the go in exchange for the content they want, where and when they want it.
- Live content continues to drive the highest engagement rates when compared to video-on-demand (VOD) content. The completion rate of video ads in live content now reaches 85 percent, almost one quarter higher (23 percent) than ads within VOD content. This suggests viewers understand they may miss their opportunity to see the content once the live event is over so they are more willing to stay focused during commercial breaks.
- An average of 5.5 video ads are now being served as part of long form, professional content. With an average completion rate of 70 percent, viewers are willing to watch more ads through their entirety in exchange for professional content. Completion rates of ads in professional content are higher (76 percent) compared to those in user-generated content (UGC) with 63 percent, which indicates the ability of professional content to better engage audiences.
- The majority of overlay ads continue to be delivered across UGC while the majority of linear ads are served across professional content.
