Mediaweek (and others) are reporting that Microsoft is revamping its MSN Video site and limiting the number of pre-roll video ads it delivers.

Using a new algorithm, MSN’s video ads will be based on the time users spend on the site, not on the number of clips viewed.

Per MediaWeek:

According to Rob Bennett, MSN’s general manager, video, entertainment and sports, the previous ad model often resulted in the less than ideal scenario of users seeing a 30-second spot followed by a 15-second piece of content and then another 30-second spot. “That’s not a good experience for users,” he said.

A better experience, they hope, will mean increased stickiness. I’ve written about this terrible ad to video ratio a while back, and am glad that MSN is doing something about it.

This comes after YouTube announced it was starting to use video ads.

MSN said it is also combining its Soapbox user generated video site with MSN’s more mainstream news, sports and entertainment video.

Technorati Tags: Soapbox, MSN Video, MSN, Microsoft, YouTube, advertising, Internet video

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In September 2007, research firm MultiMedia Intelligence said that advertising revenues for new media (including Internet advertising, Internet video, IPTV advertising, mobile TV advertising and in-game advertising) will grow to $41 billion worldwide by 2011.

That’s more than double of worldwide new media advertising for 2007, $18 billion.

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IBM released results of a survey into the habits of consumers around the world and found that people are using the Internet more and watching less TV. Nineteen percent said they spend 6 hours or more per day using the Internet versus 9% who spent the same time watching TV.

The survey looked at other digital media usage, inculding mobile TV, online video, music and DVRs.  (I’ll be posting data on DVRs over at my sister blog, DVR Bulletin soon.) Some data highlights:

• 66 percent reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day, versus 60 percent who reported the same levels of personal Internet usage.
• 81 percent of consumers said they’ve watched or want to watch PC video
• 42 percent said they’ve watched or want to watch mobile video
• 23 percent reported using a portable music service
• 7 percent reported having a video content subscription for their mobile phones
• 11 percent reported subscribing to a PC-based music service
• 18 percent reported an online newspaper subscription

People are increasingly turning to the Internet, where they have a variety of media, such as music, photos, movies and games and watching less TV. Among young consumers, TV is taking a back seat, said Saul Berman, IBM Media & Entertainment Strategy and Change practice leader.

“Just as the ‘Kool Kids’ and ‘Gadgetiers’* have replaced traditional land-lines with mobile communications, cable and satellite TV subscriptions risk a similar fate of being replaced as the primary source of content access.”

In Germany, users that have watched mobile video, 23 percent prefer to view user generated content, and 21 percent prefer video trailers or promotions.

Overall, nothing most of us don’t already know, but it’s nice to have the numbers to back it up and put in our PowerPoint slides and business plans.

* Marketers love to invent ridiculous words like “Gadgetiers” and “Kool Kids” to describe various groups, much like people use “Millenials”, “Generation X” and “Generation Y” to describe certain demographic segments. IBM says “Gadgetiers” are drawn to the latest devices and are interested in participating and controlling the time and place of their media experiences; while “Kool Kids” prefer interactive content and rely heavily on content sharing and social interaction. Enough fine print.

[Via Monsters and Critics and NewTeevee]

Bonus: Here’s a direct link to the IBM study on U.S. consumers. There are also individual reports for the U.K., Japan, Germany and Australia.

Bonus #2. IBM walked around the street with a video camera and asked kids whether they prefer TV or the Internet and the results won’t surprise you.

Technorati Tags: IBM, research, YouTube, online music, mobile TV, mobile video, Internet video

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According to a survey from the Online Publishers Association (OPA) Internet video ads are effective and longer ads are more effective than shorter ones. Huh? I thought I read that wrong, but I went back and saw the press release and there it was.

In my experience, the biggest offender is CNN which routinely uses 30-second pre-roll ads. Thirty seconds is OK for the TV world–although it’s becoming less relevant for today’s fast-paced viewers. But it’s not OK for online video ads. It’s simply too long. Advertisers that simply re-purpose their TV spots on the Internet are lazy and waste my time.

Most video content is under 5 minutes. A New York Times story says that the average length of a streamed video is 2.6 minutes, according to ComScore.

So usually I’m watching a 30-second ad to watch a 30-second video clip. That sucks. And it’s a sure way to turn off viewers and visitors to your site.

Advertisers must learn to create new video spots for the Web and make them short. In fact, the shorter the better. I’d say anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds is a good length. Anything longer and people will get impatient and go somewhere else.

Even though CNN is a big purveyor of long ads, they’ve started doing other things right with ads. After CNN’s redesign last month, they stopped using a pop-up window for watching videos and they are now integrated into the web page. CNN has also created a sidebar Flash-based ad that accompanies the ad that’s playing. Take a look at a screen grab I copied:

So the CDW ad really takes up the entire page which is effective. However, the actual video ad was 23 seconds, which is still too long for me.

Oddly enough, the OPA study found that 30-second ads were more effective than 15-second ads “providing 30% ‘lift’ and raising ‘brand consideration’ by 23%”.

Perhaps I’m a different kind of consumer. When I see an video pre-roll advertisement, I tune out completely by switching to another open tab on Firefox. Or I even sometimes lower the volume so I don’t have to hear it or see it.

I’m very susceptible to marketing tactics (ask anyone that knows me) so I think if I was getting very targeted and personalized advertisements, I might not tune out of video ads so easily.

[Via OPA press release and and the earlier press release.]

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Tired of kowtowing to start-up Internet video companies, News Corp. and NBC said that they were starting their own YouTube clone and media player. But apparently News Corp./NBC said their videos will appear on sites like AOL, MySpace, Yahoo, and maybe even YouTube.

The new partnership is keen to point out that they are protecting copyrights, unlike say, YouTube. So apparently, the site won’t host movies or TV shows, or at least it will have News Corp and NBC content. Whoopie!

But do we really need another online video destination? It’s notable only because this is being created by a TV network and a movie studio. If this will have just user-generated content or just NBC or Fox content will it really get viewers to come? Viacom may be next to try their hand at a YouTube clone since they’ve now sued YouTube for $1 billion.

Doesn’t this remind you of the pre-boom dot com days? Those idyllic days when big Hollywood producers and directors decided to get into Internet video. Now YouTube is enticing Holllywood back to the Internet. For example:

Steven Spielberg is working with Survivor-creator Mark Burnett on a website called Onthelot.com, which lets aspiring filmmakers submit videos for a chance to win a $1 million development deal. The best shows make it to a TV show on Fox, where viewers will vote and choose a winner.

Burnett is also teaming up with MTV to create a site where users create parodies of movies. The best videos will be shown during the MTV Video awards next year.

Michael Eisner is getting into Internet content as well with a production company that is producing short online serials (about 90 seconds long). Eisner hopes to generate ad revenue from in-stream ads appearing before and after the shows, as well as product placement.

And finally, TV writer Steven Bochco is teaming up with MetaCafe to launch a series of confessional short videos. The project, called “Cafe Confidential” will include videos that are unscripted and feature just ordinary people not actors. Video producers that attract the largest audience can get some payment, although there was no word on how much. From the Time article:

Bochco says he views the Web as a medium best suited for snippets of entertainment that can be consumed between tasks, something he calls a “mental shower.” “I think people go to the Internet, particularly younger people, assuming they’re not going for information, for a distraction between tasks,” Bochco said.

Remember a few years ago when Hollywood big wigs like Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen backed Pop.com? The site which eventually closed before it even launched. A victim of a bloated (over $50 million) budget and the beginning of the dot-com crash.

I wonder, will Hollywood really understand Internet video?

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