AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Streaming Ads Driving Users Away From Content: Report - paidContent.org

Advertisers know that viewers, for the most part, would rather avoid their messages. While marketers have always found a way to get themselves in front of a largely captive audience, whether through TV commercials or banner ads, advertising on streaming videos is presenting some particular challenges, according to a survey from interactive marketer services company Burst Media. Among the findings:

– Ads are disruptive: In an online survey of 2,600 respondents, about 53.6 percent of online video viewers recall seeing in-stream - either pre-, mid-, or post-roll - ads attached to some form of web programming. That’s the good news. Not too surprisingly, more than three-quarters (78.4 percent) of respondents said in-stream ads are intrusive and fully one-half (50.4 percent) say these ads disrupt their use of the internet.

– In-stream ads are a turn-off: Again, most people aren’t fans of commercials of any sort. But even the most irascible would be unlikely to turn off their TV show because of ad irritation. When it comes to streaming ads, half (50.7 percent) of the respondents said they stop watching an online video once they see an in-stream advertisement. Two-out-of-five (43.2 percent) do stay on to watch the rest of the online video. While only a small percentage - 15.3 percent - said they immediately leave the site once they encounter an in-stream ad, about half (49.7 percent) said the such ads’ presence alone makes them less likely to view other online videos.

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