eMarketer reports that online video viewers became even "less likely" to click on pre-roll ads, or watch them to completion over the course of 2009, according to the analysis of video ad network YuMe.
Between 2009 Q1 and Q4, click-through rates trended steadily downward -- from 1.88 to 0.74 percent. Completion rates dropped as well, to 66.3 percent in Q4.
Broken down by length of pre-roll, there was a trade-off. While completion rates were higher for 15-second videos than for 30-second spots, the longer ads received more click-throughs.
Additionally, view-to-completion rates fell throughout 2009 for both types of video advertising, but rates for the shorter ads dropped more dramatically over the period. Average click-through rates for the year were almost doubled on longer videos, at 1.5 percent for 30-second ads -- versus 0.8 percent for 15-second pre-rolls.
YuMe found that video ads targeted to children and teens ages 6 to 14 had the highest video ad click-through rate, at 3.5 percent -- but the lowest rate of viewing to completion. It was the ads targeted at the oldest users (over 35) that were most likely to be watched to the end, at a rate of 77.4 percent.
Online video analytics and distribution company TubeMogul reported somewhat higher completion rates for 10- to 30-second pre-roll ads appearing before short-form video clips. Nearly 16 percent of viewers clicked away rather than watch the ad to completion.
Rates were worse at magazine and newspaper sites, with nearly one-quarter of viewers abandoning the video, while just 10.9 percent clicked away from pre-rolls in front of video from large broadcasters.
Earlier research has shown that in addition to location and industry, video ad size and creative have a significant effect on success metrics -- relatively speaking, that is.
Meaning, the most "significant effect" of online video advertising is the apparent confirmation that shifting a poorly performing approach to marketing from one medium (Television) to a new medium (Online) doesn't change the response rate -- the vast majority of people tend to ignore the interruptions.
