Report: Consumers find video through direct navigation

When it comes to online video it is no secret that many consumers are finding content through social networks and search engines, but it may come as a surprise that the bulk of online video is being served through direct navigation. That, according to a recent Brightcove/Tubemogul study.

by Kristina Knight

The study found that nearly 52% of consumers directly navigate to video publishers websites to find content. Google, comparatively, drives about 38.9% of video traffic. Yahoo (5.5% of video traffic) and Bing (2.29% of video traffic) round out the top five. What about social networks? Interestingly enough Facebook is serving less than 1% of video traffic.

Consumers are increasingly turning to broadcast networks such as CBS and NBC or news outlets such as CNN or The Washington Post to obtain video content. Whether looking for news headlines or watching full-length episodes of their favorite television shows, consumers are figuring out that direct navigation can get them where they want to go more quickly.

In March, comScore research showed that more than 31 billion online videos were served, with the average US viewers watching 173 streams per person. The average stream length was just over four minutes. According to comScore's numbers, YouTube and Hulu continue to lead the race for the most online viewers, but CBS Interactive saw their portion of the online viewership soar, likely because of the NCAA March Madness tournament, which streamed games live to online viewers.

Tags: advertising, CBS Interactive, comScore, Facebook, Google, Hulu, video advertising, Washington Post, Yahoo, YouTube