Video Ad Study: Spending Surpassed Expectations in 2011

Projected to Continue to Increase, Specifically Within Mobile and Connected Devices, in 2012

Leading video company Break Media releases Digital Video Advertising Trends: 2012 study, detailing digital video landscape for the upcoming year

LOS ANGELES – Break Media, a leading creator and publisher of digital video content, announced the findings of its annual Digital Video Advertising Trends study, which found that digital video advertising spending is up and expected to continue to increase throughout 2012. In addition to organic growth of budgets, the increase is projected to come from a number of existing sources, including 32 percent from television budgets, and be reallocated into new platforms such as mobile — easily the fastest-growing format — connected devices and the emerging ad selector format.

The study compiles data from hundreds of advertising decision-makers about their digital video advertising plans heading into 2012. In addition to discussing budget growth and allocation, the study includes shifts in cost models and distribution formats. Use of video ad networks has reached a nearly universal level, which has also driven uptake in usage of the Cost per View (CPV) model. The video ads, themselves, come in a number of formats, but most advertisers still prefer pre-roll. However, the mass adoption of multimedia-ready smartphones and tablets has driven significant growth in mobile, which increased almost two-fold in the past year and is expected to jump another 16 percent in 2012.

Key findings from the study include:

Video spending to increase: In the coming year, 68 percent of advertisers will increase the share of online display advertising devoted to video ads.

Video budgets being driven up from multiple sources, including TV: Advertisers increasing video ad spend in the next year say the dollars will come from television budgets (32 percent), overall advertising budget growth (38 percent) and non-video display budgets (45 percent).

Video Ad Network use skyrocketing: More than 90 percent of all advertisers plan to use video advertising networks in the coming year, increasing the share of spend devoted to them from an average 20 percent to 41 percent of total video dollars.

Cost per View model offered by more publishers and networks: The pervasive use of video ad networks (VANs) has driven variety in the pricing models available, and the CPV model has increased two-fold in the past year (to 40 percent). A number of advertisers indicated they used Cost per Thousand (CPM) and Cost per Click (CPC) models because CPV wasn’t offered by publishers or VANs.

“Video advertising spending is growing faster than expected, and this is the first time a significant portion of the increased resources devoted to it are coming from television budgets,” said Andy Tu, vice president of marketing for Break Media. “New ad formats and pricing models are changing the landscape for how video inventory is bought and sold. The Cost per View model has clearly caught traction in a short amount of time, and new formats including mobile video and advertising on connected devices will be compelling ways for brands to connect with consumers in the coming year.”

For the full study from Break Media, visit: www.breakmedia.com/Digitalvideoadstudy.

About Break Media

Break Media is a leading creator, publisher, and distributor of digital entertainment content including video, editorial and games. The company’s properties include the largest humor site online — Break.com — as well as Made Man, Game Front, Holy Taco, Screen Junkies, Cage Potato, All Left Turns, Chickipedia, and Tu Vez. The Break Media Creative Lab is an in-house production studio creating original videos that range from award-winning branded entertainment to celebrity-driven web shorts to viral one-offs. The Break Media Network represents hundreds of publishers as one of the largest video advertising networks online, reaching more than 120 million visitors each month. For more information, visit www.breakmedia.com.