Our latest research was released today by our CEO at OMMA Video in New York. Special thanks to Robert Davis, who provided reactions from the agency side (Ogilvy) and Michael Parker (Symantec) from the brand side.

Methodology

Taking a sample of 25 major video advertising campaigns that ran identical videos within Facebook ad units (four types) and comparable click-to-play video ad units on publisher sites (i.e. standalone 300x250 ad units), we compared resulting cost, viewing-time and much more. The sample spans 60.2 million views.

Brands include Symantec, Microsoft, Hyundai, 20th-Century Fox and more. Facebook ad types span in-application display ads, interstitials and virtual currency placements, as well as some numbers for their official "Sponsored Video" unit.

Why Should I Care About Video on Facebook?

First, Facebook is a top-ten video site without without setting out to be. According to Comscore, Facebook was the fifth top video site in April, above giants like CBS Interactive and even Hulu.

Second, Facebook is home to some of the most engaged viewers online. Taking a sample of 34.5 million streams from top media companies' video clips embedded within Facebook, we found that Facebook leads all other discovery sources in terms of minutes-watched per view.

Ad Types

Video Advertising on Facebook comes from several sources, including:

Branded Fan Page embeds and uploads




Facebook's official "Sponsored Video" Unit




Facebook's official "Sponsored Video" Unit (Clicked)




In-banner display ads within apps




Interstitials within games and apps




Virtual currency within games




BENCHMARK: Standalone, click-to-play display video ads

Results

Viewers of video ads tend to watch longer and click on more ads -- at a lower average cost per view.

Video completion rates by ad unit:



Average minutes-watched by ad unit:



Sharing Rates and Clicks Per View:



Average Pricing Estimates:

Conclusions

We hope this is a good guide to what's available on Facebook and tradeoffs. Overall, virtual currency leads by most metrics, including price. Understandably, a lot of advetisers are hesitant with incentivized placements in particular, which is why they often turn to someone like us (via our PlayTime ad platform) to run the campaign and prevent multiple viewings, guarantee engagement and provide verification.

Works Cited:

• TubeMogul's patent-pending video tracking technology.
• TubeMogul PlayTime's advertising clients and partners.