The Online Publishers Association is out with a new study which states consumers are more likely to act on video ads viewed on media sites. It also found the frequency by which consumers are watching videos online continues to make huge gains. All of this information is being shared as part of the OPA’s ongoing Eyes of the Internet tour.

The OPA, in its study Frames of Reference, sampled 1,422 online video users. During its survey the OPA observed consumers are more likely to act on ads they see on media sites versus portals or user-generated content sites. Over one-third of consumers on magazine (38%), newspaper (37%), and online-only news (35%) sites say they have searched for more information after watching a video ad, while about one-quarter did so after watching an ad on a portal (27%) or UGC (24%) site. This, along with other data, promoted the idea that if a consumer has a positive attitude toward an advertised brand, and likes the video content that the ad appeared within, brand consideration jumps.

In terms of online video viewership in general, the OPA observed online video viewers are watching videos far more often than they did a year ago. In March of 2006 5% of online video viewers watched once a day and 24% watched at least once a month. As of this year weekly viewership has jumped more than 80% since last year — with 44% watching weekly — while those watching daily climbed to 8%.

It was also observed that the leading video content category is news/current events, followed by weather and jokes/funny clips.

Originally posted on June 19, 2007 @ 3:41 pm

American online video stream viewers take note – you aren’t the ones leading the world pack in viewing habits. That title, according to a new study out by comScore, belongs to the United Kingdom.

The study, said comScore, showed 80 percent of the U.K. online population (age 15 or older who have accessed the Internet from either a home or a work computer) began a video stream in April 2007, compared to 76 percent in the U.S., 79 percent in France, and 70 percent in Germany. It also reported that the average U.K. streaming video viewer initiated 80 streams, compared to 64 streams per streamer in France and 62 streams per streamer in Germany. By comparison the average streamer in the U.S. initiated 65 streams per streamer.

And which site were the Brits watching most? Not BBC, but rather Google Sites (i.e. YouTube). Of the 1.98 billion streams that were initiated in the U.K. in April 2007, 38 percent or 608.1 million came from viewing videos of people’s dancing habits, etc. The BBC, by contrast, had 32.2 million streams initiated.

Originally posted on June 19, 2007 @ 4:15 pm