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Online Advertisements Exploding

It seems to have happened in only the past couple months or less, but online video advertisements are now everywhere. CNBC, MSNBC, NBC, YouTube, you name it and they have ads before every video. If you even refresh the video you will have to watch the front-end ad all over again.

This is a recent phenomena. While video ads have been around for a while, they've been used sparingly or not at all (case in point, Bloomberg still offers free live streaming of its live broadcast and has not inserted video ads... yet). Bloomberg aside though, short video ads are in front of every single video clip out there. It's shocking how pervasive this has become in just the past few months.

I tried to find some info on what could be causing this sudden adoption (or implementation if you will) of online advertising, but failed to come up with any significant info.

Of all the outlets out there, YouTube does the best job with their ads, allowing viewers to skip the ads and go directly to the video if they like. While they may suffer in terms of ads viewed, they don't piss off their viewers.

CNBC, in my opinion, is perhaps the worst of everyone. They break their video content down in to small segments so that you have to watch more videos to view their content. In front of each video is the same ad, so to view say 15 minutes of CNBC content you end up watching the same ad five times as you watch five different, three minute videos.

It's so annoying that I've stopped watching CNBC videos online unless there's something that is a 'must watch'.

Anyway, what this sudden explosion in video advertising online tells me is that a couple things must be happening:

1) The price is right  - with a double dip recession looming companies may be looking for cheaper ways to promote their brand than television

2) Online is the new television - clearly the traffic must be there for companies to be willing to spend online.

3) Online means mobile also - any content available online is essentially available on mobile devices. With iPhones and iPads selling like hot cakes, it would only make sense that advertisers would seek real estate on those devices, and what better way than to embed within the channels through which mobile users get their content. So when you advertising online with CNBC, not only do you hit up their PC viewing audience, but those viewing the content through their mobile device as well.

Now, if only content providers could follow YouTube's example and not destroy the viewing experience with repetitive and intrusive advertising.

If they don't follow YouTube's lead, they will end up losing their online audience and ultimately end up losing their advertising revenue.

I think a simple rule should be something to the effect of for every 15 minutes of online video the viewer has to watch 60 seconds of advertising, so basically a 1:15 ratio.

Right now it seems more like a 1:4 ratio, for every four minutes of video the viewer is having to sit through one minute of ads. That model is not sustainable.

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