Advanced Television

Overlay video ads not significantly intrusive

December 2, 2008

A study of user reactions to advertising within video has revealed no evidence to suggest such ads would adversely affect users' relationship with ITV's local website. Of 1200 people surveyed about overlay advertising currently being trialled on ITV Local, just 9 per cent claimed it detracted from their overall viewing experience – lower than with pre roll advertising (14 per cent).

The survey by ITV's Consumer research and insight department quizzed those who stated an interest in local news & information online and measured the impact of different ad formats using a net promoter score (NPS) – a measure of how likely a user is to recommend a website to a friend or relative. Each respondent was randomly allocated one of four video clips, each of which differed only in the type of advertising it contained: a pre roll ad, a pre roll ad with a countdown, a Keystream overlay ad and no advertising at all. No one format generated a significantly higher Net Promoter Score than any other and all ad formats generated an NPS similar to or higher than (but not significantly so) a video with no advertising.

Categories: Advertising, Articles