Yahoo Survey Shows Premium Ads, Mix of Content Succeed Online

The study was created for marketers, but it has important lessons for anyone presenting online video. Yahoo released the results of a study intended to show how video consumption is changing and that some presentation methods are more effective than others. We're past the "revolution" stage of online video, the study says, and now experiencing "evolution."

The study found that video advertising does better online when it's made with high production values. Viewers had better recall on professional ads, found the ads more relevant to the video being shown, and found the ads more relevant to them personally. Low production value video ads, on the other hand, were more likely to be rated annoying or intrusive.

Viewers also found online video more engaging when on a page with a mixture of content. A video positioned next to an article was more likely to be viewed. Video advertising on a mixed content page had better viewer recall.

The study also found that fewer people were sharing the online video streams they watched, but that that was due to the rising age of online video viewers. Older viewers are less likely to share links, and since that group is growing there's less video sharing as a percent.

Yahoo worked with Interpret on the survey, which questioned over 4,100 viewers about their most recent video viewing experience in the last 24 hours.

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net