BrightRoll: Video ad rates fell in Q4 2008

New data released by ad network BrightRoll shows that rates for pre-roll video advertising fell in the last two quarters of 2008.

by Helen Leggatt

Average pre-roll ad rates for online video in Q4 2008 fell 25% from the same period the year before, and 12.5% from Q3 2008, according to BrightRoll. Pre-roll rates on average were down 14.2% in 2008 from 2007.

Despite this, pre-roll remains the dominant online video ad format, accounting for 83% of campaigns in the fourth quarter of 2008 versus 63% the previous year.

"Pre-roll tends to outperform on nearly every metric tracked by advertisers-duration viewed, click-through rate, cost per view, brand lift and change in purchase intent," said BrightRoll.

Increases in inventory and the upsurge in professional content fuelled forecasts of a drop in rates and recession only served to quicken the decline, reports TechCrunch.

"Fundamentally, online video ad inventory has been (and continues to be) overpriced," stated BrightRoll in the report.

It's not all doom and gloom. eMarketer forecasts online video advertising will increase 45% this year to $850 million despite an overall slowdown in online advertising.