Video ad buying trends: Fixed CPMs lead the way despite growth in real-time bidding

Jun 16, 2014 | Online advertising, Online video, UK

While real-time bidding continues to attract headlines, 96% of advertisers bought their ads based on a guaranteed CPM, with buying at a fixed CPM remaining the mainstay of advertisers buying video in a programmatic fashion, according to new research. The findings, from Videology’s Q1 ‘UK video market at-a-glance’ research, is based on 678 million impressions […]

While real-time bidding continues to attract headlines, 96% of advertisers bought their ads based on a guaranteed CPM, with buying at a fixed CPM remaining the mainstay of advertisers buying video in a programmatic fashion, according to new research.


The findings, from Videology’s Q1 ‘UK video market at-a-glance’ research, is based on 678 million impressions made via the platform this January-March.
The research highlighted several other key changes within the video advertising industry:
• Advertisers are starting to take a screen-agnostic approach to buying, with a quarter of all campaigns running across 3 screens
• Increased use of targeting has enabled more advanced ads to be served; a 129% year-on-year growth, based on Q1 2013 figures
• The most popular format is now 30 second ads, comprising 70% of total impressions in the first quarter
• FMCG advertisers now take the largest share of impressions, having grown 37% quarter-on-quarter
View an infographic showing the key highlights of the report below:
Europe_Q1_2014_Video_Market_At-A-Glance_small.jpg
“While many of the headlines have focused on the use of real time bidding, reserved buying at a fixed CPM remains the mainstay of TV-centric advertisers buying video in a programmatic fashion,” said Scott Ferber, Chairman and CEO of Videology. “As television and video continue to converge, the same advertisers who rely on the guaranteed, time sensitive delivery offered by television are looking for those same guarantees in video. Reserved, automated buying has always been a mainstay of our offering. Clearly, it resonates with advertisers using the platform, as 9 out of every 10 campaigns are purchased in this way.”
According to the analysis, which is based on 678 million impressions delivered via Videology’s platform from January through March 2014 in the U.K., 96% of advertisers bought video ads based on a guaranteed CPM.
This is the first time that this type of data was made public, as Videology recently enhanced its quarterly U.K. Video Market At-A-Glance report to include metrics around buy type in order to reflect the increased focus in the industry around brand-focused and TV-like digital buying.
Additional highlights from the report include:
• Advertisers are taking a screen-agnostic approach to video advertising; in Q1, 31% of all campaigns included a mobile and/or connected TV component, and one quarter of all campaigns ran across three screens: mobile, connected TV and PC.
• In a sign of the increasing use of targeting capabilities now available, the share of advanced ads in the U.K. increased 129% year-on-year based on a comparison with Q1 2013 figures.
• The popularity of :30 second ads has risen by 8% quarter-on-quarter and represented the most popular format on Videology’s platform, comprising 70% of impressions in the first quarter.
• FMCG advertisers made up a majority (26%) of the impressions on the Videology platform – increasing its share 37% quarter-on-quarter. Financial Services doubled its share year-on-year to 16%.
The full UK Video Market At-A-Glance and other country-specific versions are available on the Videology website.

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