August 22, 2007

70 percent of viewers give up if they click on web video and a commercial starts.

According to research done by YouTube. Somebody tell CNN. YouTube has developed an alternative: "semitransparent 'overlay' ads at the bottom of selected video clips" (which either disappear after 10 seconds or launch if you click on them).

10 comments:

Brent said...

Oh the day is coming when everyone will accept commercials over the internets, just you wait and see, yessirree.

When the internet becomes the #1 source of video - including providing your formerly broadcast/cable/satelite TV shows into your TV - and people can't get it without commercials or what ever the "man" (and his evil corporate minions)wants in exchange for viewing . . .


and you thought drug addiction was bad.

Christy said...

I find 15 or 30 second commercials a fair price to pay for video I want to watch.

reneviht said...

Huh. I just started a video, then gave up on it because it opened with a commercial, just before coming to this blog. Talk about timing!

15 or 30 seconds is a fair price to pay, but it isn't something I was particularly interested in seeing. I was just idly browsing and came across a link that took me there. I decided I'd rather go without and return to listening to music than bother with a video.

Anonymous said...
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NSC said...

I put them on the same level as watching commercials for TV shows in a movie theaters. Well, those are worse actually, I can't minimize the browser.

MadisonMan said...

I also have multiple windows open, and will quickly skip to something more interesting if a commercial pops up. I don't know how they could measure that kind of thing.

Unknown said...

I'm part of that 70 percent, mostly because running video on my old Windows ME with Mozilla, which I switched to after being wrecked by spyware on IE, results in poor quality video or crashes. It's not worth it!

Fen said...

I have zero tolerance for net commericals or pop up ads. The worst are those ads that cover the web page, with a tiny little close button up top or down below.

Regardless, if either comes up after I log on to your site, or if the ads are too intrusive, I leave and don't ever come back.

hdhouse said...

Fen...popups and popbacks etc. have incidentally created a multi-million dollar industry to surpress them. You are right on the money here.

Somewhere along the way someone has to pay for the cost of this rich media and the broadband it uses. There is a lot of talk about limiting it to :15s and also a lot of talk about doing it the way Salon does so that navigation past it is easy.

These interstitials are a pain in the neck but life isn't free.

Sigivald said...

I give up on video content before even clicking on it (which I don't, in almost all cases).

Just me, I suppose, given how popular they are, but the cost:benefit ratio is so rarely in their favor that I don't bother without a specific and trustworthy recommendation.