Online Video Advertising Doubles Engagement, Boosts ROI

Eyeblaster Research Analytics Bulletin
Online Video Advertising:
Doubles Engagement, Boosts ROI
November 2009

Highlights
• Video growth has outpaced
Rich Media growth by 60%
in the last three and a half
years.
• Video increases Dwell Rate
by 20% and doubles Dwell
Time.
• The ROI on video ads is
double that of non-video Rich
Media ads.
• Video outperforms in the
news, sports, music and
finance sections and lags in
social networks and games
environments.
• Rollover user-initiated video
performs best, followed by
auto-initiated video; click
user-initiated performs worst.
• Weekdays from 9am to 5pm
is users’ preferred time to
watch In-Banner and Floating
video ads.
• An increase of video length
by five seconds reduces
Video Fully Played rate by
2.8%, on average.

Video Best Practices

In-Stream
• Short online content videos should have short In-Stream ads, while full shows and
movies can have longer In-Stream ads.
• In-Stream ads have a very high Video Fully Played Rate, and therefore the main point
of the ad can be presented at the end.
General
• In-Stream is a sound-on environment. Ads can rely on sound as a part of the brand
experience.
• In-Stream ads especially increase upper funnel attributes such as unaided brand
awareness and online ad awareness.
In-Banner and Floating
• Typically,In-Banner and Floating video ads’ experience is comprised of two stages:
First, advertisers need to draw users’ attention to the video; then, users should be
drawn to play, turn sound on, or engage with the silent video.
• Combining interactive features and placing users in the middle of the experience may
increase Dwell Rate and Dwell Time.
• In-Banner and Floating ads are typically sound-off environments; users rarely un-mute
or may keep their speakers turned off. Ads should not rely on sound to make the
point, and can use text to subtitles to augment video.
General
• Longer videos tend to have lower Video Fully Played Rate, and therefore should make
their point clear from the start.
• In some environments, starting videos with sound turned on with very low volume
increases Dwell Rate without reducing Video Fully Played Rate.
• In-Banner and Floating ads positively impact especially lower funnel image and
persuasion metrics such as brand favorability and intent to purchase.
• Weekdays from 9am to 5pm, during office hours, is users’ preferred time to watch
In-Banner and Floating video ads.
• Add a “teaser” video on the pre-expanded ad or a clear call to action. The “teaser”
video can be lightweight and invite the user to engage.
Expandable • Use Expandable Banners for video campaigns that require ample space for the brand,
Banners as they expand after a user interaction, such as a click or a rollover.
• Expandable Banners are a good fit for campaigns with longer marketing messages, as
they maintain attention for longer.
• Can be used with user-initiated and auto-initiated video.
• In the auto-initiated case, the video in Polite Banner is exposed to the user at first
Polite Banners glance, but without sound.
• If sound is turned off by default, use a clear “sound on” call to action and make sure
that the point is clear without sound.
• Can be used with repurposed TV ads in implementations such as Eyeblaster TV.
Floating Ads • Exceptional in gaining users’ attention.
• Typically maintain attention for a short duration of time.


Table of contents

Executive Summary ....................................................................................5
The evolution of online video .....................................................................7
Impression growth ....................................................................................7
Online video capabilities ...........................................................................8
Video and branding ..................................................................................9
Online video measurement .......................................................................9
Video and Rich Media ...................................................................................10
Comparing results ...................................................................................11
Video best practices ....................................................................................12
Video and formats ..................................................................................12
Video and section/environement ............................................................13
Video by hour of day ...............................................................................14
Initiation methods ..................................................................................15
Video and sound ...................................................................................16
Call to action ...........................................................................................18
Video length ............................................................................................18
Regional differences ................................................................................19
Summary ....................................................................................................20
Glossary....................................................................................................21


Executive Summary

Adding video to your online
campaign can significantly improve
your marketing results. Marketers
are responding in kind with a larger
slice of their advertising budgets.
What makes online video
advertising so successful?
What can make your video
campaign even better?
In this in-depth bulletin, based
on the knowledge accumulated
at Eyeblaster from serving a
large portion of the online video
campaigns worldwide, we share our
insights.
Online video advertising can be
delivered in many forms. Browsers,
desktop applications, mobile
phones, portable players, IPTV
devices and even outdoor billboards
deliver online video advertising.
In this research we will focus on
three formats – In-Banner, Floating
and In-Stream video advertising.

5 EyEBLASTER RESEARCh AnALyTICS BULLETIn


Executive Summary
Online video advertising spending is projected to Within Expandable Banners, Polite Banners and Floating
quadruple in the next four years. In the last four years, Ads, creative decisions may have a significant impact
Eyeblaster has seen a tenfold growth in video impressions. on results. Auto-initiated video has the highest start rate
In addition, at the same period, video impressions have followed by user-initiated rollover and click. however,
climbed 60% faster than Rich Media Impressions. This in auto-initiated video, it is hard to infer on the level of
overwhelming growth is facilitated by the strong branding attention while the video ad is played, as the user does
powers of online video, the increase in time spent online not have to take any action if watching the ad while muted.
and the displacement of TV viewing with video viewing Dwell Rate is highest for rollover user-initiated videos, while
across other devices. auto-initiated comes only second. Click user-initiated video
is both low on Video Started Rate and on Dwell Rate.
Video boosts the performance of ads, compared to
creatives with no video. Particularly, in In-Banner and
Floating ads, video doubles Dwell Time, and depending on Online video advertising spending
ad format, significantly increases Dwell Rate. Campaigns
based on video require fewer exposures to reach the same in the US is projected to grow
Dwell Time and Dwell Rate as campaigns without video.
For In-Stream video ads, panel based market research from $1.1 billion in 2009 to $4.1
suggests that online video advertising is superior to TV
advertising in advancing consumers down the purchase
billion in 2013 – quadrupling in
funnel. Online video is also a smart financial choice.
Slightly higher cost and a dramatic increase in Dwell yields
four years
200% incremental return on investment on video, as The vast majority of the auto-initiated and rollover user-
compared to non-video Rich Media. initiated videos start with sound turned off by default due
Viewing habits of online video ads are notably different to strict publishers’ rules. Videos with sound turned off by
from those of TV spots. A significant portion of In-Banner default play for longer, compared to ads with sound on, as
and Floating video ads is watched while at the office users feel less compelled to click on the stop button.
during weekdays; however, during weekends, users watch Relatively few users un-mute video ads. When looking at un-
video ads evenly throughout the day. mute rate out of total video impressions with sound off, auto-
For In-Stream video ads, the length of the ad is dependent initiated video has the highest rate, following its high video
on the length of the video content. For In-Banner and start rate. Click user-initiated video maintains users’ attention
Floating ads, different video formats coincide with for longer with sound turned on by default, as these users
different marketing objectives. Expandable video banners were interested in watching to begin with. All user-initiated
increase the space for the brand and work well with longer videos perform significantly better with a clear call to action.
and more complex messages, as they maintain longer For In-Banner and Floating video ads, the video length
attention span. In Polite video banners, auto-initiated video does tend to be short – yet, the 30-second video is still
can allure users’ attention from the publisher’s content. the most widely used, closely followed by the 15-second.
Floating ads are successful in drawing users to engage, An analysis of the influence of length on Video Fully Played
but typically for a shorter duration. Rate indicates that longer videos have higher attrition
Users are more likely to engage with an ad and to play rates, as fewer users play the ad in full.
a larger portion of the video in the news, sports, music Overall, online video advertising is now at its tipping point
and finance sections. Social networking and games and is bound to take a center stage. With such an array
environments tend to have lower Dwell Rate and lower of creative possibilities, online video has a steep learning
Video Fully Played Rate. curve. Marketers and advertisers should master it now,
as sufficient experience may be the difference between a
blockbuster and a flop.



Beyond TV’s
While online video advertising sums to only a fraction of
total advertising spending, it is projected to grow rapidly.
eMarketer projects that online video advertising spending in

Second Fiddle the US, the world’s biggest advertising market, will grow from
$1.1 billion in 2009 to $4.1 billion in 2013 – quadrupaling in
four years3. In the UK, online advertising spending, including
Superfast growth video, rich media, display and search, has already surpassed
TV spending in the first six months of 20094.
In 1895 the Lumière brothers played one of the first videos
in history. The film, lasting only 50 seconds, showed a train Chart 1: Growth in Video and Non Video Rich
arriving to the train station at La Ciotat, a serene town in Media Impressions 2006-2009
southern France. When the film was first publically shown, the
audience was so overwhelmed by the moving image of a life-
size train advancing directly towards them that they rushed to Video
1000%
the back of the room, trying to avoid being run over.

Impression Growth
nearly 115 years later, audiences respond more mildly to 2009
2008
moving pictures; nevertheless, video has remained one of 500%
2006
the most engaging forms of media. Studies in the field of 2007
Non-Video
Psychology have shown that the combination of senses 0%
creates greater retention and brand recall. It has been Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2

estimated that people retain only 10% of what they read,
20% of what they hear, and 30% of what they see. When note: 2006 impressions indexed at 100%. Source: Eyeblaster Research.
these senses are combined, however, retention takes a Data: 2006-2009
dramatic leap forward. Those same estimates say that when
someone hears and sees, retention jumps to 50%. Delivering The growth of online video advertising is staggering.
video online provides another benefit – interactivity and touch. Eyeblaster has seen a remarkable increase in usage of
Stimulating retention by combining interactivity has shown to video in online advertising. From the beginning of 2006 to
increase retention to 70% and in some cases up to 90%1. Q2 2009, video impressions have increased over tenfold
Video has come a long way since these first experiments in worldwide and over seven times in the US market.
France. In the early days, it was mostly played in cinemas; Furthermore, online video advertising outpaces even the
before the end of the last century, it was viewed on TV. growth of Rich Media. From 2006 to Q2 2009, Rich Media
nowadays, video can be delivered via an array of devices impressions containing video grew 60% faster than Rich
from computers and media centers through mobile phones Media impressions that do not contain video. nowadays,
to billboards. Far from the low quality image of the past, 35% of Rich Media impressions contain video.
faster broadband connection, WiMax, and 4G, combined
with better compression algorithms have transformed online Rich Media and video advertising demonstrate seasonality.
video quality to match the quality of TV, and in some cases Each year, strong growth in Q2, Q3 and particularly in Q4
of hDTV. is followed by a decline in Q1 of the following year. This
cyclicality is more pronounced in video than in Rich Media.
Online video advertising is also changing in the way in Q1 2009 has witnessed an unusually sharp decline in Rich
which it is consumed. Media center computers and online Media and video impressions due to the economic turmoil.
videos are moving from the home office to the living room. however, in Q2 2009, when the economic forecasts became
eMarketer projects that while in 2008, 98.4% of the video less gloomy, it experienced a strong rebound. With the world
content was delivered via TVs, this share is expected to drop economy driving out of recession, Eyeblaster Research
to 38.5% in 2013, where the remainder of videos will be expects this rebound to continue.
delivered via computers2.

1
US naval Education & Training Command. Navy Instructor Manual. August 1992, p. 25. Available at: http://www.mysdcc.sdccd.edu/nAVEDTRA%20134.pdf
2
hallerman, David. Digital Video Advertising: Where’s the Money? eMarketer. August 2009.
3
Ibid.
4
Sandler, Kathy. Web Ad Sales In Britain Overtake TV. The Wall Street Journal. September 30 2009.



Enhanced capabilities
The level of advertiser control over users’ attention is highly
Video Focus:
dependent on the environment. Cinema is an example of an
environment with relatively high control over users’ attention.
HD Video Ads
Users are in a dark room, with loud sound, and are unable It cannot get more engaging – full screen, high definition
to leave or speak to each other. video with a pair of eyes only one foot from the monitor.
TV and In-Stream are examples of intermediate control. In hD Video banners deliver an unparalleled experience
live TV and In-Stream, users cannot skip the commercial, with the brand. highly utilized in the entertainment
but they can leave the room, read the newspaper, or engage industry, and particularly in new movie launches, hD
in a conversation. With newspapers, In-Banner and Floating Video banners can transform an In-Banner and Floating
ads, advertisers have a relatively low control over users’ video to a theatrical event.
attention. Users focus on the publisher’s content, and it is The brilliance of hD video lays in its ability to engage
the advertiser’s job to allure their attention from the content users step by step. Typically, the ad starts as a regular
to the ad. video; users can then expand the panel to view a full
The environment makes In-Banner and Floating video screen hD version. In some cases, an Expandable
different from TV spots and from In-Stream. In-Banner and Banner expands to play a regular video, and then users
Floating video ads’ experience is comprised of two stages. expand to the hD version. Thus, this format ensures
First, advertisers need to draw users’ attention to the video. that users who are interested in a closer interaction with
Then, users should be compelled to choose to have a the brand will receive the best video experience there
deeper experience with the brand, by playing the video, or is, while others will be shown a regular video. The main
in auto-initiated video by turning the sound on. In In-Stream, challenge for advertisers is to attract users to activate
the audience is more captive and has to watch the ad before the full screen hD video.
the content starts. Therefore, In-Stream may work with linear In terms of performance, hD video exceeds regular
footage, while with In-Banner and Floating ads, advertisers video ads in both start rate and videos fully played rate.
need to work harder and combine interactive features. In fact, hD videos start rate is over 40% compared to
At present, online advertising still tends to use ads with 30% for other video ads; its fully played rate reaches
linear stories such as repurposed TV ads; these do not take nearly 60%. Dwell Rate jumps from 8% to 10% – 25%
advantage of the full interactive capabilities of online video. increase for hD video.
It took TV advertising decades to evolve to the levels of
sophistication that it currently has. The evolution of online HD Video Performance
video advertising is happening much faster with new and
more effective features being developed every year.
40% 10%

30% 40%

20% 5%
20%
10%

0% 0% 0%
Video Started Rate Video Fully Played Rate Dwell Rate

HD Video Other

Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q4 ‘08 to Q3 ‘09

Creative examples for HD Video ads can be found on the
Creative Zone: creativezone.eyeblaster.com



Video and Branding video content; either on short clips or on full shows and
movies. With more video content watched online, In-Stream
Video is an adaptation of the 30 second TV spot to online
Using video, marketers can quickly convey sophisticated
video broadcasting sites like youTube and hulu. One of the
ideas, tell a coherent story and persuade customers to
advantages of In-Stream is that it delivers fewer ads per
identify with their brand message. Video ads on TV were
pod, compared to traditional TV – gaining more attention for
the enablers of the creation of big powerful brands that
each ad.
customers are willing to pay a premium for. now, as video is
moving online, online video advertising will help them to stay.
Online also changes branding, as consumers no longer take No more guesswork
advertisers messages at face value. The power of online
video stems from its ability to provide more information to The measurability of online video advertising offers a great
users in an interactive manner. advantage to advertisers. While offline television advertising is
measured by eyeballs extrapolated from a panel, online video
Online video is an unparalleled branding tool. As a lean offers a robust set of metrics that are based on the actual
forward experience rather than a lean back on the sofa behavior collected from cookies on browsers. These metrics
experience, it provides enhanced levels of engagement. In calculate not only the number of unique browsers but also the
terms of size, when the video is watched full screen, even level of interaction and what portion of the video was played.
a 14’’ laptop screen on your lap, one foot away, can look
bigger than a 32’’ flat screen TV on the other side of the The accurate measurement of online video advertising offers
living room, 10 feet away. Touch and interactivity add more advertisers knowledge on their audience that is unimagined
depth to the experience with online video and can place the offline. Offline measurements, for example, do not measure
user in the middle of the ad rather than as a bystander. how many people took a bathroom break or just read a
book, while sophisticated online ad serving systems track
A Millward Brown and Dynamic exactly how many videos were touched, interacted with,
played only half way through, and how many videos were
Logic survey has found that only played in full. All of these metrics are reported in real time.
21% of the people watching DVR The added benefit from real-time accurate measurement
playback and 30% of people is that advertisers can gauge on ad and publisher’s
effectiveness and optimize their campaign. Online allows
watching TV airtime pay attention advertisers to easily compare ads and publishers head to
to commercials, compared to head and see which provides a better value.

46% of people watching In- Panel based advertising research has a long 90-year history,
since Arthur nielsen first opened shop in 1920. Therefore,
Stream video ads online marketers feel confident that terms like lift in brand
awareness and intent to purchase are going to convert to
Three parallel processes facilitate the growth of video more dollars at the cash register at the end of the day. While
advertising online. People spend more time online at the online metrics do a good job of measuring online behavior,
expense of TV viewing time; TV viewing is being displaced the inability to directly link between users’ online activity and
by video viewing across different devices, from computers their offline and sometimes online purchasing behavior limits
to cell phones; and TV viewers and users of DVR systems the adoption of online metrics by marketers.
like TiVo fast forward TV ads. A MillwardBrown and Dynamic With knowledge on users activity online, panel data
Logic survey has found that only 21% of the people becomes more powerful as a point of reference, linking
watching DVR playback and 30% of people watching TV online activity and offline behavior. Advertising research
airtime pay attention to commercials, compared to 46% of companies like comScore, Dynamic Logic and nielsen are
people watching In-Stream video ads online5. providing valuable research that correlate between users’
In-Stream, In-Banner and Floating video serve different online behavior, and their behavior at the supermarket
environments. In-Banner and Floating video ads reach aisle. When measuring campaigns’ performance, online
consumers while they shop online, IM, communicate by measurements such as Dwell Rate, Dwell Time and
email and social networks or browse for information or Interaction Rate complement offline measurement such as
entertainment. In-Stream video ads reach viewers of online unaided awareness and intent to purchase.

5
Millward Brown and Dynamic Logic. Integrating online video advertising into the marketing mix.
Available at: http://www.dynamiclogic.com/na/ research/whitepapers/docs/MB_KnowledgePoint_OnlineVideo.pdf


Adding a Flare to
A close look at the results of billions of impressions served
by Eyeblaster in the past year shows why video makes such
a superb advertising tool. Adding video to a Rich Media ad

your Campaign doubles the amount of time that the average user spends
with it, as measured by Dwell Time. In addition, users are
more likely to engage with an ad in the first place, as evident
higher results from the higher Dwell Time. Interactivity is a key component
of online advertising measurement; evidence here shows that
One of the engines behind the growth of online video consumers are more willing to both engage and maintain
advertising is its success in retaining users’ attention for interest in the brand’s message, when ads contain video.
a longer period of time and in leaving a lasting impact.
Advertisers should avoid looking at online advertising as Chart 3: Performance of Polite and Expandable
a purely direct marketing tool, judging success with direct Banners with and without Video
marketing measurement such as clicks. This approach
misses much of what online video advertising is all about – Expandable Banner Polite Banner

conveying branding messages. 10% 60 10% 60

In this research, we use several metrics to measure the
success of online video. For In-Banner and Floating ads, 40 40
5% 5%
Eyeblaster’s proprietary Dwell metrics are used to measure
20 20
the level of engagement with ads containing video as
compared to the level of engagement with ads that do not 0% 0 0% 0
contain video. Dwell Rate measures how many impressions Dwell Rate Average Dwell
Time (Sec)
Dwell Rate Average Dwell
Time (Sec)
were intentionally engaged with by users out of total Video No Video
impressions. Average Dwell Time measures the average
duration that ads were dwelled upon. Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q4 ‘08 to Q3 ‘09

In addition to the Dwell Metrics, to compare video ads head
to head, this research uses specific video metrics: Video Furthermore, examining the results of the two most popular
Started Rate measures how many videos have started out Rich Media banner formats reveals the true potential of video
of total impressions; Video Fully Played Rate measures how in providing engagement. Adding video to Polite Banners
many of the videos that have started played fully. Video Fully increases Dwell Rate by 50%, on average. In Polite Banners,
Played Rate is consequential for branding as it measures in cases of auto-initiated video, the video is exposed to the
the portion of videos that were able to convey their full users at first glance. Typically, even in user-initiated video,
marketing message. Other metrics that were used are Video the user can visibly notice that the ad contains video.
Length, which measures the length of the video of the ad, In Expandable Banners, on the other hand, the video is
and Average Video Duration, which measures the average usually hidden behind the expanding panel and users are
duration of the video that was actually played. not aware of it until they roll over or click on the ad. From the
user’s point of view, Expandable Banners with hidden video
Chart 2: Performance of Rich Media with look like ads without video, and therefore get the same level
and without Video of attention between ads with and without video.

60
To increase Dwell Rate, it is a good practice to put a “teaser”
8% video on the pre-expanded ad. The “teaser” video can be
6% 40
lightweight and invite the users to engage. Also, using a
clear call to action makes video easily accessible to users
4%
20
after expansion increases the rate of videos played (more
2% details about call to action are coming).
0% 0
Dwell Rate Average Dwell Time (Sec)
Video No Video




Overall, online video advertising does a very good job of These results are even more pronounced when it comes
attracting and maintaining attention across all formats, and it to Dwell Time. On average, users need almost three
is excellent at retaining attention. More people engage with more exposures of ads from campaigns without video to
video ads, and when the video plays, they stay for longer. accumulate the same Dwell Time gained from campaigns
based solely on video. At any frequency of exposure,
Online video is also a smart financial choice. Video costs
campaigns that are based on video have higher Dwell Rate
on average 20% more than non-video rich media6. The
and Dwell Time than campaigns without video.
benefit is 25% incremental increase in Dwell Time and 100%
incremental increase in Dwell Rate. That yields 200% return This is yet another indication that In-Banner and Floating
on investment on video, as compared to non-video Rich video delivers a significantly higher ROI for advertisers. With
Media7. slightly higher cost, advertisers obtain the same Dwell Rate
level and save one impression on average. In addition, they
accumulate more of users’ time as if they increase frequency
Chart 4: Dwell by Frequency of Exposure
by three impressions.
For video ads, the increased engagement in terms of Dwell
30%
Rate and longer Dwell Time translates into higher marketing
Cumulative
Dwell Rate

20% effectiveness. A Dynamic Logic research indicates that video
10% ads are the most noticeable online ad format, generating
0% an increase in all funnel effectiveness metrics. According
to the study, ads with video generated an increase of 18
300
percentage points in online ad awareness – 10.1 points
Cumulative
Dwell Time

200 above an index of online ads. In addition, video ads scored
100
higher on aided brand awareness, message association,
0
brand favorability and purchase intent8.
Frequency of 1 Frequency of 2 Frequency of 3 Frequency of 4 Frequency of 5
Exposure Exposures Exposures Exposures Exposures In-Banner and Floating video ads are clearly superior to
Campaigns with Video Campaigns without Video In-Banner and Floating ads without video. What about
In-Stream Video? A two year-research by MillwardBrown
Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q3 ‘08 to Q2 ‘09, north America and Dynamic Logic indicates that spending time with an ad
while watching a program online has a greater effect on total
An examination of users’ behavior by frequency of exposure brand communication awareness as compared with regular
shows that campaigns that are based on video advertising TV advertising. The research indicates that the incremental
achieve better results with fewer exposures, as compared awareness between people who viewed an ad once on
to campaigns that are based on Rich Media without video. TV and the control group is 10% compared with 38%
For example, users who were exposed three times to an ad for online video ads. Ad recall was also four times higher
in a campaign without video have the same Dwell Rate as among viewers of online ads. The researchers attribute
users that were exposed only twice to a campaign based this overwhelming increase in awareness to users’ higher
exclusively on video advertising. engagement with online media, and the tendency for fewer
ads per pod online as compared to TV9.
Users need almost three
more exposures of ads from
campaigns without video to
accumulate the same Dwell Time
gained from campaigns based
solely on video.
6
Based on serving cost and media cost, derived from a sample of publishers surveyed by Eyeblaster Research. Publishers’ incremental fee for video over Rich
Media may vary.
7
The benefit of video is 2.5 times that of regular rich media, while the cost is 1.2 times. Overall ROI (benefit/cost) is 200%.
8
Dynamic Logic. Beyond the Click. Enhancing the TV-like Power of Video Ads on the Web. november 2006.
Available at: http://www.dynamiclogic.com/na/research/btc/beyond_the_click_nov2006.html
9
Millward Brown and Dynamic Logic. Integrating online video advertising into the marketing mix.



Tell me how!
attributes such as unaided brand awareness and online ad
awareness. In-Banner and Floating ads are more successful
in positively impacting lower funnel image and persuasion
Online video advertising delivers a wealth of creative metrics such as brand favorability and intent to purchase10.
possibilities to craft an ad, the most important of which
is interactivity – placing the user in the center of the ad. Chart 6: Performance of Banners and Floating
Advertisers can choose not only multiple ad formats, but also Ads with Video
the ad’s length, initiation method, turning the sound on or off,
and whether to place a call to action. Many of the creative 30% 60
choices are also affected by users’ viewing habits such as the
environment and the time of day in which the ad is watched. 20% 40

Aligning the format with the 10% 20

message 0% 0
Dwell Rate Average Dwell Time (Sec)

Chart 5: Video by Ad Format Expandable Banner Polite Banner Floating Ads

Share of Video Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q4 ‘08 to Q3 ‘09
100%
Impressions
Video Fully Played Rate

0%
80%
In-Stream Video Under In-Banner ads, Expandable Banners increase the
20%
40%
space for the brand, as they only expand after a user
60% Polite Banner 60% interaction, such as a click or a rollover. They are a good fit
Average 80% for campaigns with longer marketing messages as they hold
40% Expandable Banner 100% people’s attention with higher than average Dwell Time. In
Floating Ads
addition, Expandable Ads’ higher Dwell Rate and Dwell Time
20% indicate that more people interact and touch them, leading
to higher retention.
0% Average
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Eyeblaster Research has
Video Started Rate
found that a small portion of
note: Share of video impressions out of Rich Media impressions
Expandable Banners require even
more than five user interactions
Each of the four ad formats has advantages and
disadvantages, depending on the marketing objective.
before playing the video.
In-Stream Video is typically auto-initiated and therefore has however, in many cases, advertisers hide the video behind
a very high start rate. In many cases, it is served as a pre-roll several panels, which makes it difficult for users to find the
or mid-roll, and users have to patiently wait for it to finish, video and results in lower Video Started Rate. Eyeblaster
so they can watch whatever video content they came for – Research has found that a small portion of Expandable
obtaining a very high Video Fully Played Rate. Banners require even more than five user interactions
however, there is a caveat. Short online content videos before playing the video. These advertisers rely on a very
should have short In-Stream ads. The industry rule-of-thumb determined audience. A good practice would be to have
is 15 seconds In-Stream ads for videos lasting less than 3
minutes of content, and 30 seconds for content lasting over
3 minutes.
Research by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) suggests
that In-Stream Videos have higher effect on upper funnel

10
IAB Research. Case Study on Digital Video Advertising Effectiveness.
December 2008.



the user-initiated video play after one interaction, preferably The homepage is where people visit on their way to their
behind a clear call to action or a “teaser” video. destinations. however, this analysis shows that users do
spend time on homepages to engage with video ads.
Polite Banners seem as one of the more obvious choices for
homepages are slightly higher than average on Dwell Rate
video. Advertisers can choose between user-initiated and
and on Video Fully Played Rate. It has a higher portion of
auto-initiated video, but the high video started rate shows
user-initiated video with Video Start Rate of 16%.
that advertisers choose the latter more often. In the auto-
initiated case, the video in Polite Banner is exposed to the In social networking and games sites, users tend to engage
user at first glance, typically with sound turned off by default. with video ads less frequently, and also have a lower video
A good practice would be a clear “sound on” call to action. fully played rate. Videos on games sites are nearly always
auto initiated with 7% video started rate.
Some floating ads have very successful implementations
such as the Eyeblaster TV (see separate box). Floating ads As a desktop rather than a browser environment, instant
are exceptional in gaining users attention, as evident by their messaging is different. It nearly always contains user-initiated
higher Dwell Rate. however, they typically maintain attention video, since the video is typically hidden behind the panel
for a short amount of time, as evident by their lower Dwell of an Expandable Banner. With predominantly user initiated
Time. Floating over the publishers’ content, floating ads video, it has only a 3% Video Start Rate. While it has slightly
remain in the range of user’s vision. Many use auto initiated lower than average Dwell Rate, a higher proportion of videos
video to augment visibility. are played to their full duration.

Chart 8: Video Started Rate by
Video and the section/ Section/ Environment
environment 80%
71%
60%
Video Started Rate

60%
Chart 7: Video Performance by 41% 43% 44%
37% 38% 40%
Section/Environment 40% 33%
24%
20% 14% 16%
60% Mail 3%
0%
Finance
Instant Messaging

Health

Home Page

Mail

Social Network

Entertainment

Sports

News

Music

Lifestyle

Finance

Auto

Games
News
Music

Entertainment
Sports
50% Instant Messaging
Home Page
Average

Auto

40% Social Network Lifestyle
note: Includes In-Banner and Floating Ads.
Health
Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q4 ‘08 to Q3 ‘09, north America.

30% Games Average
2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% 12%
Dwell Rate

note: Includes In-Banner and Floating Ads.
Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q4 ‘08 to Q3 ‘09, north America.

Users are more likely to engage with an ad and to watch
video for longer in some online environments/sections rather
than others. news, sports, music, finance and mail tend
to have both superior Dwell Rate performance and higher
Video Fully Played Rate. People spend a longer amount of
time in these environments, browsing content and writing
and reading emails. Thus, users have more time to engage
with advertisers’ ads. These environments have mixed
auto-initiated and user-initiated videos, as indicated by their
similar Video Started Rate of around 40%.


Video Focus: Primetime at the office
For In-Banner and Floating video ads, users’ viewing habits
Eyeblaster TV are very different from those of TV advertising. A large
portion of TV ads are watched in the evening, during TV
primetime while cuddling on the living room couch. Online
Eyeblaster TV Performance video ads are mostly watched at the office during working
hours and in the evening, at home.
80% 20%
40%
60% Chart 9: Video Started and Fully Played by
40%
20% 10%
Time of Day, Weekdays
20%

0% 0% 0%
6%

Videos Started
Video Started Rate Video Fully Played Rate Dwell Rate

Share of Total

Played Rate
Video Fully
70%
EyeblasterTV Other 4%

65%
2%
Office Hours
0% 60%

Midnight

10 am

12 pm

10 pm
11 am

11 pm
1 am
2 am
3 am
4 am
5 am
6 am
7 am
8 am
9 am

1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
4 pm
5 pm
6 pm
7 pm
8 pm
9 pm
It is possible to transform a successful TV campaign
directly to the Web. Eyeblaster TV is a floating ad that
Video Fully Played Rate Share of Videos Started
plays video spots besides the publishers’ content.
Typically, the video is auto-initiated and is played with
note: Share of Video Started measure the proportion of videos started within hour
the sound turned slightly on, to attract users’ attention. from total videos started throughout the day.
Once the video has finished playing, the floating ad Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q2 ‘09, US East Coast, EST.
collapses, leaving a reminder.
Eyeblaster TV helps advertisers to stretch their Tracking the life of the average John Doe teaches valuable
investment in the production of TV ads to the web easily insights on when to deliver successful video advertising
and with great results. Eyeblaster TV ads tend to be long throughout the day. During weekdays, waking up at 6:00am,
for Web advertising – 30 seconds; still their fully played Mr. Doe does not usually surf the web a lot, maybe checking
rate is similar to the average. Therefore, this format an occasional email or so; not much time to hit the start
provides a great platform for longer and more complex button on many video ads. At 9:00am he gets to the office
marketing messages. In addition, although Eyeblaster TV filled with caffeine after gulping the venti coffee during his
ads are auto-initiated with sound-on by default, users do morning commute.
not find them intrusive compared to other video ads as In the morning at the office he still feels energized, and
evident by their similar Video Fully Played Rate. ready to do some work! Quickly, just to keep his sanity, he
opens his browser. That’s when video ads played reach their
peak. The office online activity is mostly comprised of news,
researching information and communications, such as email
or instant messaging. A clear drop in video ads starts is felt
at 5:00pm, when Mr. Doe is preparing to go home.
Even when surfing at home, Mr. Doe would not play as
many ads as he does from the office. Mr. Doe usually logs
off before midnight, when he goes to bed. During his waking
hours, Video Fully Played Rate remains high. This rate drops
significantly at night.

Creative examples for Eyeblaster TV ads can be found on
the Creative Zone: creativezone.eyeblaster.com



Chart 10: Videos Started and Fully Played by
Time of Day, Weekends
Making it roll, or click
While In-Stream videos nearly always start automatically,
6% In-Banner and Floating video ads have three major initiation
Videos Started

methods: Mouse rollover, mouse click and auto-initiated
Share of Total

70%

Played Rate
Video Fully
4%
video. Auto-initiated is the most popular, followed by mouse
2%
65% rollover.

0% 60%
Chart 11: Video Initiation Method
Midnight

10 am

12 pm

10 pm
11 am

11 pm
1 am
2 am
3 am
4 am
5 am
6 am
7 am
8 am
9 am

1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
4 pm
5 pm
6 pm
7 pm
8 pm
9 pm

Video Fully Played Rate Share of Videos Started

User- Auto-
note: Share of Video Started measure the proportion of videos started within hour
Initiated / Initiated
from total videos started throughout the day. Rollover
Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q2 ‘09, US East Coast, EST.

User-
Over the weekend, Mr. Doe’s engagement with online video Initiated /
ads is vastly different than his engagement during the week. Click
Starting ads more evenly throughout his waking hours, Mr.
Doe has much more patience for watching ads between
8am and 10pm. Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q2 ‘09
The fact that a large portion of video ads are watched at the
office also puts some constraints on the manner in which Each of these methods has its own advantage. Auto-
they are delivered. Depending on the country, culture and initiated video allows advertisers to attract users’ attention
online environment, advertisers may want to refrain from to the video passively; however, prospects may miss the
delivering auto-initiated and rollover user-initiated ads with beginning or see it without sound. Rollover is typically used
sound turned on by default, to avoid rubbing office etiquette in expandable banners to expand the panel and expose the
the wrong way. When crafting their messages, advertisers video. Rollover requires fewer actions from the user than
and agencies should remember that their audience might be a click – only rolling the mouse on the ad, compared to
hard pressed at the office as opposed to relaxed at home. rolling the mouse and clicking. Also, many users refrain from
clicking, to avoid leaving the publishers’ website or to avoid
launching a popup.

Chart 12: Video Started Rate and Dwell Rate
by Method of Initiation

40% 10%

20% 5%

0% 0%
Video Started Rate Dwell Rate

Auto-Initiated User-Initiated / Rollover User-Initiated / Click

Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q2 ‘09



Clearly, auto-initiated video has the highest start rate – 53%.
Impressions that appeared but their video did not start may
Back to the silent film?
have been designed to start the video after an intro, but did
There is an advantage in using user initiated video and
not have enough time to load before the user navigated to a
click-to-initiate in particular – sound. The majority of click-to-
different page. Rollover is superior to click, achieving three
initiate videos have their sound turned on by default when
times the start rate – 10% compared to 3%.
the video launches, and so do nearly a fifth of rollover-to-
however, these figures should not be taken at face value. An initiate videos. Auto-initiated video nearly always launches
analysis of Dwell Rate by initiation method shows that while with sound off. In many cases, the ability to use sound
many auto-initiated videos start, many also go unnoticed. In turned on by default is limited by publishers’ rules.
auto-initiated video, it is hard to infer on the level of attention
The advantage in having sound turned on by default is that
while watching the video, as the user does not have to take
the user gets the full video experience from the get-go,
any action other than turning the sound on. Dwell Rate
rather than having to take an additional action and probably
is highest for rollover initiated videos, while auto-initiated
miss the beginning of the jingle accompanying the ad.
comes only second. Click user-initiated video is both low on
Sound turned off by default may significantly diminish the
Video Started Rate and on Dwell Rate.
effectiveness of repurposed TV ads and other creatives
where sound is intrinsic to the story.
Chart 13: Video Fully Played Rate
by Method of Initiation Chart 14: Share of Impressions with
50% Sound Turned On/Off
40% Auto-Initiated User-Initiated / Rollover User-Initiated / Click

30%
Sound On Sound On
20%
Sound Off
10%
Sound Off Sound Off Sound On
0%




Furthermore, as shown earlier in this bulletin, many users
Auto-initiated video has the highest video played duration and browse sites and are exposed to ads while at the office.
Video Fully Played Rate, as users do not stop them often. Thus, starting a video ad automatically with sound on may
User-initiated Video Fully Played Rate is slightly lower than in bother co-workers in the next cubical and alert bosses
the auto-initiated case. to employees who are checking football scores rather
than their emails. Depending on the country and online
environment, abrupt loud sounds when loading web pages
should be used cautiously.



Chart 15: Video Un-Mute Rate for Videos As users only find out if the video has sound after it was
with Sound Turned Off initiated, sound turned on/off does not affect Dwell Rate for
user-initiated video, only for auto-initiated video. In auto-
0.3% initiated and rollover user initiated video, sound on tends
0.2% to have lower Dwell Time, as users tend to turn the video
0.2%
off more quickly. This conclusion can also be derived by
0.1%
examining Video Fully Played Rate.
0.1%
0.0%
Chart 17: The Fully Played Effect of
Un-Mute Rate out of Video Impressions
Sound on Video
50%

40%
Relatively few users un-mute video ads. When looking at the 30%
un-mute rate out of total video impressions with sound off,
20%
auto-initiated video has the highest rate, following its high
video start rate. nevertheless, only 3% of click and 10% of 10%
0%
rollover user-initiated videos are started, and therefore have Auto-Initiated User-Initiated / Rollover User-Initiated / Click
the chance of being un-muted. When looking only at videos
that have started with sound off by default, the proportion of Off On

users who turn the sound on is higher in user-initiated video
as compared with auto-initiated video. Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q2 ‘09

To increase un-mute rate, it is a good practice to have a
clear call to action on the video, rather than a small button at Advertisers need to find the balance between putting the
the bottom. Also, accompanying the ad with text or subtitles users in control, and compelling them to experience the
to augment the video while the sound is off can help users full video with sound on. The Eyeblaster TV format (see
comprehend the marketing message. separate box) starts with the sound turned on with very low
volume. Using this method, users do not find the ad intrusive
and do not stop it more frequently than the average; the
Chart 16: The Dwell Effect of Video Fully Played Rate of Eyeblaster TV is similar to the
Sound on Video average of other ads with video.
Auto-Initiated Off In click initiated video, sound turned on by default is
On
User-Initiated / Off
advantageous. Users who clicked want to watch the ad, so
Rollover
On why not provide them with the full experience without forcing
User-Initiated / Off them to take any additional action. The reward for sound
Click On
turned on by default, in this case, is an additional 5% of
0% 5% 10% 0 20 40 60
Dwell Rate Average Dwell Time (Sec) users who watch the video all the way though.

note: For auto-initiated video, sound on increases Dwell Rate and lowers Dwell
Either way, the difference in performance between ads with
Time as users tend to turn the video off more quickly. sound turned on and sound turned off disproves an industry
Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q2 ‘09 myth saying that many users browse the web with muted
speakers. Thus, accompanying video with sound turned on
to illuminate the marketing message or a memorable jingle
or song, and delivering it in a courteous manner, may be a
good way to enhance marketing effectiveness.



You didn’t call, they didn’t play Is 15 the new 30?
For In-Stream, particularly in pre-roll and mid-roll, users are
Chart 18: Share of Video Impressions with
required to see the full ad if they wish to view the content.
Call to Action
This is not the case for In-Banner and Floating ads. Wary
of lower attention span of users who are browsing or
communicating, many in the industry call for shorter video
ads with more concise messages.
No Call to
Action
Chart 20: Videos by Length

Call to Action

Share of Total Impressions
20%

note: For user-initiated video only. 10%

If there is one golden rule of success in user-initiated video, 0%
and in online advertising at large, it is to use a crystal clear 5 Sec
10 Sec
15 Sec
20 Sec
25 Sec
30 Sec
35 Sec
40 Sec
45 Sec
50 Sec
55 Sec
60 Sec
65 Sec
70 Sec
75 Sec
80 Sec
85 Sec
90 Sec
call to action. In user-initiated video, a call to action should
entice users to play the video, or expand the ad. While it
may sound obvious to many, some advertisers choose to
note: In-Banner and Floating video ads.
keep the space for their marketing message, rather than to Source: Eyeblaster Research. Data: Q2 ‘09, north America
use a call to action. This line of thinking may not be prudent.

A review of In-Banner and Floating ads served in Q2 ‘09
Chart 19: The Impact of Call to Action indicates that ads lasting for 30 seconds are still the most
popular kind, accounting for over 20% of total video ad
Call to Action impressions; they are closely followed by the 15 second
ads that were featured in 17% of video ad impressions. Ads
No Call to
Action lasting longer than 30 seconds are rare and may contain
0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% several sequenced videos.
Video Started Rate One of the advantages of shorter In-Banner and Floating
videos is the higher likelihood that users will watch them
note: For user-initiated video only.
all the way through. high attrition rates for longer videos
diminish the primary advantage of video – its ability to deliver
marketing messages as a story, with a start, middle and end
Overall, ads with a call to action have nearly 2% higher – and promote users to identify with the brand message.
Video Started Rate compared with ads with no call to
action. A clear call to action should also be used to entice
users to turn the sound on for video with sound turned off
by default. Eyeblaster Research analysts have noticed that
ads with large and clear triangles signaling “play”, clear large
icons indicating “sound on” and large scripts saying “click
to expand” or “rollover to play video” entice users for that
particular behavior. Overall, a clear call to action increases
the likelihood that users play user-initiated video or turn
the sound on in auto-initiated video. The brand experience
gained by a video played outweighs the space gained by
omitting the call to action.


Online Video Advertising Doubles Engagement, Boosts ROI

Online Video Advertising Doubles Engagement, Boosts ROI

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