Scott Porad

Dear Video Advertiser,

I am writing today to talk to you about the advertisements that are placed to fund all the amazing free video I watch online.

Let me start by saying that I have absolutely zero objection to advertising funded content.  In fact, that’s how I make my living.

Regarding advertising to fund video content, I do not object to ads that appear before videos (pre-roll) or ads that appear after (post-roll) or ads that interrupt the content (interstitial, just like on regular ‘ol TV).

Nor do I object to obvious product placement.  One of my favorite TV shows is Friday Night Lights and it is by no accident that two of the main characters have after-school jobs at Applebee’s.  The writers work it into the story reasonably well, or at least such that it completely lame.

Also, when I watch soccer with my Liverpool-obsessed friend Darrell it does not bug me that the players have ads on their uniforms, and there are ads on the field and around the field and basically everywhere.  Like Friday Night Lights, these’s aren’t so intrusive such as to ruin the game.

No, none of these things bother me.  I accept them as the small price I have to pay to get great, compelling entertainment for free.  I think that’s a fair bargain.

But, here’s something I think you should know about: when I’m watching a video on YouTube (or wherever) it is very, very unlikely that I am going to click on one of the video overlay ads.  In fact, I’d say the chances are somewhere between zero and none.

Take a look at the ad below, then I’ll explain why I’m not going to click on it.

Watching video is technically different than reading text.  By technically, I mean our bodies are doing different things.  When reading text, our eyes are scanning the page, so an advertisement may “catch our eye” with valuable information.  (This is the promise of Google Ads, right?)  In this respect, an ad on a page of text might actually add some value to the page (and, for me at least, does not harm).

On the other hand, when watching video our eyes are focusing on one specific thing.  As a result, the overlay ad is a distraction.  It is getting in my way.  It is making it is making it harder for me to consume the content which, in turn, makes me unhappy.  My unhappiness is not aimed at iJustine—it’s aimed at you, for ruining my experience of watching her video.

What I do in this situation close the ad.  Sometimes, if it’s a video I am focusing on closely I will have to stop and pause, then close which is even more aggravating.  It’s basically a lose-lose situation.  I lose because you’ve ruined my experience.  You lose because I didn’t click your ad.

Now, some people might complain that a pre-roll or post-roll or interstitial is a worse viewer experience, but I disagree.

• Pre-roll: I may be eager to get to the content, but at least I’m going to watch for that reason.  The key here is that the ad needs to be proportionate to the content.  A 30 second pre-roll on a 30 second video is annoying.
• Interstitital: somewhat more aggrivating than pre-roll because you’re disturbing the flow of my video, but at least your not ruining the content.
• Post-roll: maybe I’ll pay attention less because it’s easy to click away, but if you truly have relevant* advertising then this is  ripe opportunity…I am there, with nothing to do, waiting for you to fill my mind with your interesting advertising content.

A qualitative data point about pre-roll: I was watching Hulu the other night and they gave me the choice to have one long ad at the beginning of the show, or four short ads sprinkled throughout the show.  I chose one long ad at the beginning.

Watching an ad for 2 or 3 minutes was a small price to pay compared to having my show interrupeted four times.  In fact, I was pleased by having a choice and patiently watched the ad up front.  And, get this, I even recall the advertiser: Toyota Tundra!

On the other hand, some people might want the four ads…to get a break from the show for more popcorn or the bathroom.  Those people have different viewing habits, and that’s okay.  The point is that Hulu is giving its users a choice and that’s resulting in a happier viewing experience.

All that said, let me summarize my thoughts to you: I think advertising-funded content is great; the food I feed my family is a result of ad-supported content.  However, when it comes to advertising-funded video there is about infinity times more likelihood that I am going to pay attention to your pre-, post- or interstitial roll ad versus an overlay ad.  I am never, ever, ever going to click on an overlay.  Overlays reduce the quality of my viewing experience and make me unhappy.

Sincerely,

Scott

* -  That ad above, that I saw on iJustine: completely, 110% irrelevant to me.  With all the data Google has about me—multiple e-mail accounts, a gajillion chat sessions, Picasaweb, Google Docs, etc.—you’d think they could put something relevant on there…what a waste.  Seriously, no ad would be more profitable for them in this case because of the intangible goodwill cost.