Swimming Upstream

Not sure whether to put in-stream ads in your online video content?

Consider this: A recent survey by Burst Media found that 50.7% of respondents stop watching an online video when they encounter an in-stream advertisement. And worse, 15.3% reported they immediately leave a site once these ads start rolling.

Apparently in-stream ads don't always make a lasting impression. Some 69.1% of respondents said they pay about the same or less attention to in-stream video advertisements than they do to standard creative units on the same page.

Burst conducted the poll of 2,600 Web users age 18 or older last December.

Nearly three out of five (58.8%) respondents view online video at least once a week. Men are more likely than women to watch — 67.6% vs. 49.4%, respectively. Men age 18 to 24 are most inclined to check it out, with a third saying they do so daily.