Online Video Quality Could Affect Revenue Opportunities
A new study conducted by JupiterResearch for Akamai Technologies reveals that having experienced poor video performance at an internet site, more than half of US online video users would seek content from a competing website, and a quarter would leave with a more negative brand perception and be less likely to return to the poorly performing site.
As content owners and publishers invest seriously in broadband video as a means to increase advertising revenues, develop new revenue streams or create emotional connections with their brands, having a technology partner that can provide stability, reliability and a consistently high quality end-user experience is critical to the success of those initiatives says Akamai.
Brad Rinklin, vice president of marketing, Akamai Technologies, said: “For online publishers and marketers, online video is rapidly becoming a serious component of their business strategies. In order for these initiatives to pay off, the viewing experience must be flawless.
“Online publishers and brands are turning to video as a way to differentiate themselves, engage more emotionally with consumers or create premium advertising products to drive more revenue. Akamai understands this, and our broadcast-quality digital media platform consistently provides exceptional viewing experiences for leading publishers so their brand is protected, audience preserved and their advertisers kept happy.”
According to the study, online video that is interrupted for buffering purposes and playback that is slow to begin are the greatest sources of frustration. 60% of frequent online video users (ie, those who watch online videos at least once per week), are less likely to return to a site for video content if the viewing experience is poor, and close to half will seek their video content from a competing website.
More than a quarter of those users went so far as to say they would be less likely to visit the poorly-performing website again for any reason and that they would have a more negative overall perception of a site with poorly performing video content.
In addition, more than 25% of online consumers are interested in bandwidth-intensive video content such as full-length movies and TV programs viewed from their PCs.
On the other hand, 42% of online consumers indicate they are less interested in online video content, because they prefer their TVs for a rich viewing experience.
JupiterResearch designed and fielded the survey to online consumers selected randomly from the Ipsos US online consumer panel.
A recent report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project says that 57% of online adults in the US have used the internet to watch or download video, and 19% do so on a typical day (see US Audiences To Embrace Online Video).
comScore recently published research which claimed that 80% of the UK online population (aged 15 or older who have accessed the internet from either a home or a work computer), initiated a video stream in April 2007, compared to 76% in the US, 79% in France, and 70% in Germany (see UK Internet Users Leading Consumers Of Online Video).