Findings from the Online Video Custom Research Report

Peter Sargent | August 09, 2007, 11:10 AM

One of the points within the report I discussed in my last blog will surely get the attention of advertisers and publishers alike.

In the consumer survey, we presented respondents with a scenario in which online video content was free if it was ad-supported. Although the most acceptable form of advertising to accompany online video is an adjacent ad banner, the general level of acceptance of advertising in some form is encouraging to publishers. Only 20 percent of online video users said they would only watch online video if it had no ads at all. So, 80 percent of online video users accepted the presence of advertising as a trade-off for providing free online video content.

And while very few consumers actually WANT ads of any form (except perhaps those people attending a Super Bowl party who couldn’t care less about the game), this willingness to accept such advertising only heightens the importance of Web sites to maintain a satisfactory online video experience.

On vacation for the next week, but I’ll look to pull additional thoughts from the report when I return.