I was wondering when I was putting the new MSN Video through its paces why I saw so few pre-roll ads, and it turns out that MSN is limiting pre-rolls to one per three minutes users spend on the site. “It’s definitely a long term bet,†said Rob Bennett, MSN’s general manager, explaining he hopes the new limits will ultimately drive more usage. “The feedback on pre-roll is pretty mixed. We’ve definitely heard from our users that they’d prefer longer interval between ads. The general thought in the industry is that we need to evolve. This should be less intrusive and more organic.†It’s also worth noting that MSN is one of the few sites that still allow 30-second pre-rolls. The new MSN Video has now launched out of beta, and they’ve added a spotlighted video section across the top.
Placing pre-rolls on the basis of time instead of number of clips played is a very interesting proposition. What does everyone think? And how hard will it be for TV sites to wean themselves of wall-to-wall pre-rolls especially as the ads are getting more popular with clients?