You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours

According to the study, around 43% of virtual currency ad viewers completed the entire ad, and roughly 52% watched at least three quarters of the ad. These numbers just barely inch out those of in-banner and interstitial ads, but where the virtual currency ads excel is in click-through and share rate. By rewarding viewers for completing ads, advertisers see a click-through rate double that of in-banner ads and over 5 times that of interstitial ads. Users share these ads on Facebook and Twitter roughly 50% more than in-banner ads and around 6 times more than interstitial ads.

Additionally, virtual currency ads are watched 6 seconds longer than in-banner ads on average, and nearly 5 times longer than interstitial ads. The most intriguing statistic from the study, especially for advertisers, is the price of these ads compared to how long they are watched. The study found that virtual currency ads average $0.22 per minute viewed, nearly identical to the $0.23 cost for interstitial ads. In-banner ads, on the other hand, averaged $6.27 per minute viewed.

How Facebook Ads Stack Up Against Web Benchmarks

But how do these Facebook ads compare to ads placed outside of the site. TubeMogul used an off site benchmark to gauge the advantage or disadvantage of using Facebook for video ads. The study found that Facebook users are nearly twice as likely to finish watching ads than they would outside of the site, but click-throughs for the benchmark ads were higher than in-banner and interstitial Facebook ads. Virtual currency and in-banner ads are watched between 9 and 15 seconds longer than offsite ads, but the offsite ads tend to be better value to advertisers than many Facebook-based ads.

Targeting Ads at User Behaviors

User behavior seems to play a large role in determining which Facebook video ads work the best. By rewarding game players with virtual currency, advertisers see higher click-throughs, longer watch times and higher value from their ads. Interstitial ads, which pop up as users navigate through games and apps, garner just a fraction of the view time and click-through rate despite being cheaper to implement.

Interstitial ads seem obtrusive to users since they only appear at the exact moment a user has clicked to navigate from one screen to another, so it makes sense that users close them quickly in frustration. By offering Facebook users with rewards for watching videos at their own discretion, advertisers attain much higher view times and click-throughs.

A company called TubeMogul is keeping track of the viewership on 15 different websites from YouTube to Crackle. Today they've launched the TubeMogul Top 40, a monthly leaderboard for viewership across a wide variety of video services around the web. Below is a look at who those leaders are.

The list includes 40 different sources of video, but here's a look at the top 15. How many of these have you heard of?

1. Next New Networks
A venture funded mini-empire of online video shows on a wide variety of topics, from sports to politics to a rip-off of the lolcat phenomenon as a video show. Run by former edge-TV execs. Some good stuff, and hey - they're winning!
2. Chris Pirillo
A one man empire run by uber-(media)-geek Chris Pirillo. Pirillo notes in a blog post about the TubeMogul 40 that these numbers don't include his successful live tech-help show, either.
3. Howcast
How-to videos, similar to the many other offerings in this space but with a little more allusion to sex. And more viewers.
4. For Your Imagination

Professional video producers, making content for brands to ride along with.

5. Tornante

Michael Eisner's company, the holders of Vuguru.

6. WatchMojo.com

More professional video producers, making content for brands to ride along with or otherwise make use of. Apparently it's working, given the presence of these kinds of companies.

7. iJustine

Justine Ezarik, the woman who stole Justin.tv's lunch in terms of publicity. She's now interviewing top tech executives, covering movie launches for General Motors' I Got Shotgun social media campaign and generally having fun.

8. Nalts

According to his bio: "Kevin Nalts is one of the most-viewed YouTube comedians with more than 650 short online videos seen more than 25 million times. By day he's a Marketing Director at a Fortune 100 company, and he speaks, writes and consults in the area of online marketing and viral video."

9. MyDamnChannel

Hollywood veterans doing comedy, including the You Suck at Photoshop series. It's working for them.

10. Ford Models

Ad sponsored eye candy, content about beauty products, nothing new here - just supermodels blathering on the internet.

11. CBS Interactive

The rolled up web properties of CBS.

12. HBO
13. Rocketboom

This daily short form, comedic documentary show just keeps on drawing crowds. It's getting more social media play than PBS (#20).

14. FUNimation Productions

Anime! Why am I not surprised? I had no idea though.

15. National Lampoon

Next generation, low-brow humor that's not as funny or smart as The Onion but is from a very established brand.

Notes

That's just the top 15 of TubeMogul's Top 40 and it's notable that these numbers don't count viewership through services like Blip.tv and Castfire, both big services. TubeMogul is a very successful service so far though and their claim of 30,000 users is remarkable.

Our take away from this list is that old media is still generally dominant but that video producers born and bred on the media fringe are holding their own very respectfully. And that Chris Pirillo is a maniac.