Advanced Television

Report: Connected TV dominates video advertising

November 21, 2019

Connected TV (CTV) continues to dominate video advertising, reveals the latest Video Benchmarks Report from asset management solution provider Extreme Reach (ER).

In Q3 2019, CTV maintained its steady growth, accounting for 51 per cent of all video ad impressions served by ER’s AdBridge platform, continuing the climb from 49 per cent in Q1 and 50 per cent in Q2. The report also shows that premium publishers continue to attract the lion’s share of impressions across all advertising categories and that the dominance of 30-second ads signals the proven power of a long-time favourite to tell a richer story that resonates.

Across all video ads served, ER reports stable metrics quarter over quarter. This absence of wild swings indicates the industry is settling into its new, CTV-based reality. The quarterly report, based on the latest aggregate performance metrics from AdBridge, tracks campaigns for a diverse set of brands across multiple categories. It provides an industry-wide snapshot that identifies emerging ad performance trends as indicated by viewer click-through and video ad completion rates as well as invalid traffic and time spent. Breakdowns related to these numbers based on media destination (premium publisher vs. media aggregator) and device (desktop, mobile, tablet and CTV) are also covered.

Prevailing trends include:

  • 30-Second Ads Lead – The steady rise of 30-second ads parallels the surge of CTV. Q2 2018 marked the first quarter that 30-second ads surpassed 15-second ads in the overall per centage of impressions served by ER. It’s a trend that held steady through Q3 2019 when :30s accounted for 66 per cent of video ad impressions and 15-second spots declined to 32 per cent. That amounts to an increase of 19.5 per cent for :30s from Q3 2018 to Q3 of this year.
  • Longer is Stronger for DTC and Auto – While 30-second ads account for 66 per cent of impressions overall in Q3, both DTC and Auto ads showed an even larger investment in this length. For auto, 30-second spots accounted for 84 per cent while in the DTC category they rose to a whopping 97 per cent of impressions by length.
  • Premium Prevails for Most — With video completion rates over 90 per cent, the vast majority of impressions landed on premium destinations (rather than media aggregator inventory), driving 80 per cent of overall impressions in Q3 – an increase of 25 per cent over Q3 in 2018. DTC brands mirror the broader group of advertisers in strongly favouring premium publishers over the last three quarters.
  • Auto Advertisers Rely more on Aggregators – A preference for aggregators is one way in which auto advertisers show markedly different trends from the broader group. The 57 per cent of impressions served to media aggregators in Q3 is a 10 per cent increase from the prior quarter and nearly triple the overall rate.

“It’s interesting to see just how much has changed in the past year, and it’s all been driven by consumers’ embrace of CTV as a new and better viewing experience,” said Mary Vestewig, ER’s Senior Director, Video Account Management. “As we head into 2020, we don’t expect to see major swings in our metrics. But as more AVoD players emerge and the streaming wars heat up, it’s best for brands and their agencies to remain nimble in the ever-changing video advertising ecosystem.”

 

Categories: Ads, Advertising, Articles, Connected TV, Markets, OTT, Research