Here’s a thought: maybe online video ads will be a little different than TV ads!  The online TV world is slowly figuring out what that means.  The tantalizing possibility, of course, is that online TV ads will work better than regular TV commercials — not just for the advertiser, but also for the viewer.

Here’s one interesting opinion, from StreamingMedia.com’s Watchman column:

    The thing I most love that [ABC.com is] doing is their click-to-continue countdown clock. First off, the countdown starts as soon as the ad break does, not when the ad starts playing. Too many other sites tie the countdown to ad playback. The problem with this is what happens if the ad is slow to start? I, the user, then get penalized for your site not working. Whereas with the clock starting and counting down separate from the ad loading I never felt this sense of being penalized.

The real genius of this is the fact you have to click to continue after an ad. Because I’m in a lean-forward mindset I don’t mind having to click a button to continue, especially since in instances where the ad is slow loading it means I can click my way out of an ad before it finishes.

What’s really clever about it, though, is that it opens the opportunity for me to spend an open-ended amount of time with an ad. I have to admit, when I see one of those interactive in-stream ads I sometimes take the time to go through the whole thing, which often takes longer than the 30-second ad break. But I don’t mind as I’ve made the decision that I want to spend more time because I’m engaged with learning more about the ad.

Talk about a win, win, win! I win as the viewer, because I must be enjoying the ad if I’m watching it longer than need be, plus I feel like I’m in control and not being force fed. The advertiser wins because I’m spending more time engaged in the branded world of their ad, likely increasing the chances I’ll remember what the ad was about later on when making purchasing decisions. And in the end the content owner wins, as both the viewer and advertiser are happy with the experience they enabled.

So long story short, as the Watchman I’m all for in-stream ads. I’d much rather watch a few ads online than a ton of ads on TV, and ad countdowns are a very compelling way to hold my attention.

Filed under: effective online video, marketing, online advertising, video, video campaign