Web video ads 'better than TV and banners'

Web video ads are more effective than TV commercials, and people read online articles in greater depth than print articles, according to new research.

Viewers had better brand recall from video ads embedded in shows watched online than from regular TV advertisements, according to research firm Millward Brown.

"The results show a higher level of engagement among the online viewers — leading to increased communications awareness, brand favourability and consideration," the company said.

"This is supported by the fact that online viewers were 53% more likely to pay attention to the ads during commercial breaks versus live TV viewers."

A DoubleClick report published last week found web video ads had higher click-through rates than static ad banners.

Meanwhile, the results of the Poynter institute's latest Eyetracker study this week show that, when users read an article online, they tend to complete 77% of the text, versus 62% completion in broadsheet newspapers and 57% in tabloids.

That finding contradicts the commonly-held notion that web users usually don't appreciate taking time to read lengthy portions of text.

Put together, the studies will give encouragement to web advertisers and marketers alike, and go some way to accounting for the surge in online ad revenue (and its migration from print) over the last year.

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