AOL has released a study called “Finding the Needle in the Haystack,” which looks at the value of programmatic advertising. Some of the key findings:
- the reported rate of TV ad impression growth is misleading.
- advertiser value per TV ad dollar is declining due to increased prices, and as a result core ad spend appears to be slowing.
- programmatic TV provides a resolution to these trends and is poised to become a critical long-term tool for buyers and sellers.
They used WebSpike, a proprietary second screen tool, to examine over 2.6 billion television ad impressions and eight brands from 2013-2015. They found that the further an ad is into the commericial break, engagement drops dramatically. There’s a 15 percent average drop in ad performance halfway through a commercial break, and then it drops to 23 percent three-quarters of the way through.
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They conclude in the report that:
Our research shows the majority of the nearly 30-seconds added commercial time is being filled with two 15-second advertisements, resulting in more spots airing in a 30-minute block. Additionally, our own studies indicate that from 2010 through 2015, 15-second television spots aired 3.4 percent moreoften YoY, whereas 60 and 120-second spot airings declined. When considering these trends, it becomes evident that ad impressions are not growing because of growth in viewership. Rather, approximately one to two more commercials are being injected into each ad break. Absent of impressions coming from the extra ad insertions, TV commercial impressions would be declining at a rate of about 0.7 percent per year–consistent with the drop in television viewership
You can download the full report with case studies here.