There are currently 144 million online video viewers in Europe, representing 72%* of the online population. They watch online because of the greater control and flexibility it gives them over their viewing and the opportunity to share content with friends and family. And their familiarity with online video makes them a highly receptive audience for online video advertising.
Online video advertising can be delivered to audiences through online video channels such as MSN Video, or through rich media advertising formats that incorporate online video. Both formats offer great potential for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of TV advertising campaigns, with research showing that online video advertising performs better than TV across every brand metric (Nielsen). Online video advertising benefits from reduced clutter compared to traditional commercial breaks, and increased viewer engagement as users often trigger the viewing experience themselves. It offers deeper brand engagement and encourages users to share and discuss content.
Microsoft Advertising offers pre-roll (sometimes called pre-slate) and post-roll online video advertising, to accompany professional video content on MSN Video and other MSN content channels. Online video advertising in this format offers advertisers significant advantages: ads have exclusivity within each piece of video content, they are supported by companion 300x60 banners to keep the brand front of mind throughout the viewing experience, and they cannot be skipped.
Microsoft Advertising also offers a broad range of innovative rich media advertising formats, for delivering online video advertising with impact. These include the Glider format, which floats out from a rectangle ad to dominate the screen, the MSN Sidekick, which shifts page content to the side to arrest users’ attention and the MSN Video extender, which gives users control over the size of the video ad as they watch it. All of these formats can be combined with audience targeting solutions for greater efficiency.
