Opportunities and challenges for mobile video ads

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People are increasingly using their mobile phones to watch videos, but the ad revenue isn’t keeping pace. According to online video technology firm FreeWheel’s 2Q online video monetization report, out today, mobile made up 13.2 percent of all video views in Q2 but only 5.6 percent of ad views.

Why the lag? FreeWheel points to consumer viewing habits, measurement challenges and device fragmentation. Brian Dutt, part of FreeWheel’s advisory services team, said people viewing on a small screen tend to watch short-form content and for shorter sessions, not an ideal advertising environment.

“When we’re talking about mobile, we’re talking about a small-screen, short-form content, so the viewer is on the go,” he said. Add the challenges measuring audience on mobile and the multiple devices and screen sizes to create ads for and “it’s a harder form factor to monetize,” he added.

Reference:  Mobile Video Less Than Ideal for Advertising, Says FreeWheel.

Technology will only serve to evolve the platform on which mobile videos are viewed, such as better resolution, streaming or size, and thus improve viewer experience and attention.  But, to be sure, viewing of mobile videos seems to be sustained explosion.  So advertisers have incentive to keep figuring out how to best present their brands, and monetize the videos, while making sure viewers are captivated and not put off.