YouTube TrueView skippable pre-rolls study

Google Confidential and Proprietary

Evaluating the Effect of Consumer Choice on Pre-roll Effectiveness Ipsos MediaCT and Innerscope Research Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2011

“TrueView Skippable PreRolls”


The Problem: “Is anyone actually watching?”

In 2009...

53%

DoubleClick Benchmark Report - A Year in Review, 2009 Q18. When considering ads you might see on websites like YouTube before videos you want to see, which of the following statements most applies to you?

of online video ads were watched to completion

http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en/us/doubleclick/pdfs/DoubleClick-07-2010-DoubleClick-Benchmarks-Report-2009-Year-in-Review-EMEA.pdf





The Solution: YouTube “True-View In-Stream” (a.k.a. Skippable PreRoll)

3


TrueView “Skipppable” PreRolls: How They Work

User must watch the first five seconds of an ad. After that, he can choose to skip the ad to proceed immediately to the content he wanted.

With Skippable PreRoll, the advertiser only pays for what matters most-- people actually watching the ad.

Advertisers are only charged when a viewer chooses to watch the ad completely or after 30sec (whichever comes first).

Unique to YouTube!

Source: Doublecklick Benchmark Report. 2009


TrueView enhances viewer experience and makes media dollars work harder

5

22%

19%

14%

14%

I had seen the ad before

I am not interested in the product / service

I didn't find the ideas in the ad interesting

The ideas were not relevant to me

Those who skipped each ad (n=259-343)

Q11e. Which of the following, if any, describe why you decided to skip the ad?

Less than half of users (45%) will always skip ads. Other reasons to skip indicate that TrueView delivers efficient reach by:

• Natural frequency capping • Delivering targeted ad views

Reasons for participants skipping ads


Experiment: UK based, first of its kind globally

6


Comparison groups

Lab test:

Online test:

+

Viewed Standard Pre-Roll Skipped TrueView Watched TrueView

Control group (no exposure)


Methodology

1. Lab test 2. Online test

8

Biometrics (132 people)

Eye tracking (132 people)

Online survey (2,000 people)

Ipsos MediaCT. All Rights Reserved


Key Findings across all participating advertisers

1

2

3

TrueView ads drive higher viewer engagement. On average, people who watched TrueView ads showed 75% greater engagement with the ad than people who viewed the same ad as a standard pre-roll.

Skipped ads deliver free value. With the right creative, ads can deliver impact even on those who skip.

The first 5 seconds matter– so use the time wisely. Users who watched a TrueView ad were 40% more engaged during first 5 seconds vs. users who saw a standard preroll. Even users who skipped a TrueView ad were 30% more engaged during the first 5 seconds vs. users exposed to a standard preroll.


Video

Skip Bar

Option to skip does not distract from the ad

10

Ipsos MediaCT and Innerscope Research Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Skip Bar

Video

Brand A

82% of users think the skip button is ‘very’/ ‘extremely’ clear

All respondents (n=2,000) Q15. The highlighted button allows you to skip an ad after 5 seconds before watching a video. How clear do you think this was when the button appeared?

Brand B


Across all brands, people who watch TrueView ads are over 75% more engaged than those who see standard pre-rolls

11 Ipsos MediaCT and Innerscope Research Inc. All Rights Reserved

Saw Standard PreRoll Watched TrueView

Google Confidential and Proprietary 12 Ipsos MediaCT and Innerscope Research Inc. All Rights Reserved

20

40

60

80

100

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Emot

iona

l Eng

agem

ent

Time in seconds

Neutral Engagement (55)

People who watch ad in TrueView format (choosing not to skip) show higher biometric engagement



Viewers who watch TrueView ads feel better about the brand Average across all participating advertisers (4 dif’t industries)

Watched TrueView Saw Standard Pre-roll

13

Brand Favourability

Purchase intent

+5%

+3%

+2%

+4%

All respondents (n=2,000) Q4. Please indicate how favourable or unfavourable you feel towards each of the following brands of [CATEGORY] using the below agreement scale.

Q6. How likely are you to buy any of the following [CATEGORY] in the future? / Q6. When you next come to buy a [CATEGORY], which of these would be your first choice?


TrueView ads deliver impact– even on users who skip

14 All respondents Q8a. [Post 5 second de-branded exposure]. Do you remember seeing this ad when you watched the clips on YouTube?


The option to skip increases user response during the first 5 seconds

15

2.7 3.5

3.7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Control Skippable Skipped Skippable Not Skipped

AQ™ Biometric Scores

Scores are aggregated across all ads within a single condition and are derived from the emotional intensity during the first 5 seconds of each target ad in that condition.

Saw Standard Pre-roll Skipped TrueView Watched TrueView

This is true whether the user watches or skips the ad

Ipsos MediaCT and Innerscope Research Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Key Findings

1

2

3

On average, people who watched TrueView ad showed 388% higher engagement than people who viewed the same ad as a standard pre-roll (vs. 75% average uplift across all brands).

Interestingly, people who saw ad as a standard preroll showed the highest levels of brand linkage and spontaneous awareness– possibly because people who opted to watch TrueView were drawn in by creative content and less focused on branding messages.

Uplift in key brand metrics was relatively consistent across formats – whether a person watched a TrueView ad or saw a standard pre-roll. But we saw some indication that the TrueView format lifts brand metrics more effectively than standard pre-roll.


People who watched ad as a TrueView were 388% more engaged than those who saw standard pre-roll

17 Ipsos MediaCT and Innerscope Research Inc. All Rights Reserved



95%94%

96% 96%

Control Skipped TrueView Watched TrueView Saw Standard PreRoll

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A single viewing of any format has no significant impact on aided brand awareness

Prompted Brand Awareness

All respondents (n=2,000) Q3. Which of the following brands of [CATEGORY] have you heard of?


1%2%

5%

7%

Control Skipped TrueView Watched TrueView Saw Standard PreRoll

People who watched standard pre-roll report highest levels of unaided brand awareness

19 All respondents (n=2,000) Q2. Which is the FIRST brand that comes to mind when you think of [CATEGORY]?

Spontaneous Brand Awareness



The standard pre-roll delivered higher brand linkage

20 Recognisers of the ad

Correctly naming the Brand (amongst Recognisers)

Q8b. What brand or company was it for? [OPEN END] Ipsos MediaCT. All Rights Reserved

64%

78% 85%

Skipped TrueView Watched TrueView Saw Standard PreRoll


Results suggest possible higher uplift to metrics across the purchase funnel as a result of viewing TrueView ad

21

Control Skipped Ad Watched TrueView

Saw Standard

Preroll Favourability 48% 48% 52% 50%

Consideration 17% 19% 21% 21%

Purchase intent 5% 6% 7% 5%

Recommendation 31% 25% 30% 28%

All Respondents (n = 2000) (Q4B) Please indicate how favourable or unfavourable you feel towards each of the following brands of cars using the below agreement scale.

(Q5B) Which of the following brands of cars would you consider the next time you are thinking of buying a new car?

(Q6B) When you (next) come to buy a car, which of these would be your first choice?

(Q7B) How likely are you to recommend each of these brands of cars to someone else?

NB: results not statistically significant


Recommendations

• Take advantage of TrueView’s ability to drive higher viewer response, in addition to the efficiencies created through auction pricing.

• Where sensible, include branding in first 5 seconds. This leverages heightened viewer response at this stage and ensures brand impact in all cases– whether the ad is viewed or skipped.

• Consider mixed targeting strategy: Use standard prerolls to reach your target audience and use TrueView ads to achieve broader reach in an efficient way.

22


Thank you

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YouTube TrueView skippable pre-rolls study

Technology

watched standard pre

watch trueview ads

ipsos mediact

trueview ad

standard preroll

standard pre

google confidential

skippable preroll