New research suggests video ads in Canada have a higher likelihood of being seen than in any other world market – but only if they’re bought straight from publishers, rather than through open exchanges or networks.
According to a quarterly update from online video buying platform TubeMogul, Canadian programmatic direct video viewability was 10% above the global average in Q1 2014. At 62%, it beat out the U.S. at 55%.
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But viewability for online video overall – including direct, exchange and network buys – is 1% below the global average, behind Australia and Southeast Asia. At just 35% viewability, the study posits that Canadian online video has a smaller opportunity to be seen than Canadian display advertising, which had a viewability rate of 48% on exchanges in Q1 2014 (per Integral Ad Science).
Viewability is the industry’s term for whether or not an ad had an opportunity to be seen by a real consumer. TubeMogul uses the Media Ratings Council’s standard definition for video viewability, which counts a video as viewable if it’s at least 50% on someone’s screen for at least two seconds.
Pre-roll volume still on the rise, mobile video volume triples
Pre-roll video impressions available for auction in Canada grew 38% from Q4 2013 to Q1 2014, TubeMogul found. A significant chunk of this growth came from a major spike in the last week of February and first week of March. Although much of this growth came from long-tail sites, the top 100 comScore-ranked publishers increased inventory by 25% in that period, suggesting that premium publisher interest in online video is growing.
TubeMogul data on pre-roll video inventory volume in Q1 2014
CPMs fell 10% from the previous quarter, to an average of $7.13. TubeMogul says this is consistent with post-holiday slumps from previous years, though it may also be an effect of increasing supply. The biggest price drops came from comScore 100 sites, which fell 20% quarter-over-quarter.
Mobile video inventory more than tripled in Q1, growing 237%, compared to 185% in the previous quarter. Canadian mobile video growth was only surpassed by the U.S. (where volume grew 340% in Q1). Average CPMs likewise rose, growing 8% to $10.52, showing that even as the supply of mobile video impressions expands, demand is outpacing it.
Viewability dragged down by small-player ads
This is the first quarter TubeMogul has published viewability rates in its report, so it has no prior data to say whether viewability is increasing or decreasing. However, it’s clear overall video viewability rates in Canada were dragged down by small-player ads, which run in 300×250 frames, usually in side banners that play automatically when a user arrives on the site. According to the report, Canadian small-player ads had a viewability rate below 15% in Q1.
TubeMogul data on video viewability in Q1 2014
More expensive, full-size pre-roll video impressions tend to have better viewability and completion rates than small-player ads. Direct buys from publishers focus more on full-size premium inventory, which may be one reason why viewability for direct buys is so much higher.
TubeMogul’s data came from several million mobile and desktop video ad views delivered across campaigns run on the TubeMogul platform in Q1 2014.
