A study by digital video ad sales rights/ad server company FreeWheel pegs completion rates of video ads in content 20 minutes or longer — typically in premium TV shows — at 81 per cent. Shorter, professionally produced videos — 5 minutes to 20 minutes long — only get a 62 per cent completion rate.

“Length of video content is a more significant factor of completion rates than length of the advertising,” says the report. The study says 58 per cent of digital video ads are 15 seconds in length; 26 per cent of digital video ads are 30 seconds long.

Mid-roll video ads — those that run mostly in long TV episodes — have a 91 per cent completion rates. Pre-roll ads — still the most dominant in terms of all digital video ads — have a 67 per cent completion rate. Post-roll ads pull in a 50 per cent number.

Pre-roll ads comprise 87 per cent of all video ads served by FreeWheel, with 12 per cent coming from mid-roll ads and 1 per cent from post-roll ads. FreeWheel processed 23 billion video views and and 13 billion video ad views in 2010.

Mid-roll is a rapidly growing category; a year ago it had an 8 per cent market share. Much of this growth comes from the growth of long video content, such as premium TV shows.

FreeWheel – whose clients include Fox, Discovery Communications, Turner Broadcasting, Univision, and CBS – says that although ad volume has doubled during the last six months of 2010, completion rates have remained stable. This is a good sign, it says, meaning that consumers recognise the value of ad-supported TV shows and video.

Categories: Ads, Advertising, Markets, Research