Pre-roll ads are 8-25 time more effective than in-banner ads, according to BBE which released a study that compared in-banner and pre-roll ads based on CTR. “Finding average click-through rates of 1.44% draws a real distinction between in-stream and in-banner ads,” said Matt Wasserlauf, CEO of BBE. This quote by itself summarizes one of the biggest problems we have in our industry today – we measure everything based on clicks and CTR. Big mistake…

Forget about the click…

First, in-stream ads and especially pre-rolls should not be measured based on CTR. Pre-rolls weren’t designed to draw clicks. A user who has just clicked to watch some video content and then prompted to see a 15 or 30 seconds pre-roll ad shouldn’t be expected to click to be taken to the advertiser site (if at all he or she can be expected to click to skip the ad). Pre-roll ads were designed to deliver a marketing message that will stick with user through rich experience delivered by video. Ideally, pre-roll ads should be measured using brand metrics (such as brand favorability, brand awareness etc.) or at least video completion rate (if a skip option is provided to the user). 

Second, even if CTR was the correct success metric to use for pre-roll ads, does a CTR of 1.44% really prove a good performance? Sure, a CTR of 1.44% sounds great when it’s compared to the insignificant CTR of 0.11% for standard banners or slightly higher for rich media units. But 1.44% CTR is still very low and more than anything else, a 1.44% CTR for pre-roll ads just highlights the low CTR of banner ads. But, again, forget about the click…

Unfortunately, even after more than a decade of online advertising we are still heavily focused on CTR. We still see different research papers focusing on CTR, agencies buy media based on CPC and advertisers measuring success by clicks. A better way would be to focus on more meaningful success metrics such as sales, leads, brand engagement (dwell time) and viral elements  such as sharing with friends and buzz. Did I say forget about the click already? …

And stop comparing…

Why does one need to compare pre-roll ads to banner ads (or any other ad format)? A well planned campaign should include many different creative formats to match and create different user experiences. Banner ads are designed to deliver a marketing message on web pages while the consumer reads some content. Pre-roll ads, on the other hand, are designed to deliver the same message inside video players while the consumer watches some video content. Banner ads create a magazine or newspaper-like experience while pre-roll ads create a TV-like experience. Hence, comparing between them is wrong, irrelevant and defeats the purpose of using different creative formats in first place.

The correct way to analyze creative and media would be to look at the campaign in holistic manner across all creative formats, sites and channels and then measure the synergy stemming from the diversified media and creative mix. Each ad, site and channel contributes something to the end result (whether it’s a sale, lead, brand awareness, etc.) as a standalone part of the campaign. However, the main objective should be proving that the whole campaign equals more than the sum of its standalone parts – ads, sites and channels. Showing that type of synergy would prove a successful campaign planning and execution.
Ronnie Lavi | Manager, Product Planning and Business Development