SPB TV, a Swiss provider of OTT, IPTV and mobile TV services, presented a large scale OTT survey at IBC this year, with bad news for non-targeted advertisements and findings that support trends of mobile devices running away with the majority of online video traffic.
Of the 60,000 respondents, 39% said they found ads used in online TV or video services ‘Annoying’, which is unsurprising, however, 28% answered dramatically with ‘Very disturbing; won’t use the service’. Despite only 9% of viewers finding ads ‘Sometimes useful and interesting’, the report says this is a positive trend, with viewers starting to see ads as more useful and slightly less annoying.
SPB’s survey findings showed that 74% of respondents proposed letting viewers choose ads relevant to him or her, which could increase the efficacy of ads – highlighting that truly accurate targeting is the key to success. However, the credibility level of the currently existing targeting practices is low. The options to change the ads according to user demographics and to his or her behavior were equally unpopular – only 17% of people believe such techniques will increase the effectiveness of commercials.
Viewers want to receive a more personalized advertising experience, but the reality is that a large proportion of viewers want to receive no advertising experience whatsoever – 45% would prefer to pay just to avoid seeing ads.
Other key findings from the survey revealed that since last year, the frequency of mobile devices’ usage rose yet again, with 44% of respondents saying they watch TV or video every day on smartphones and 25% on tablets. A result that is in agreement with other similar surveys.
The drive for increased mobile viewing is reportedly down to user generated content (UGC), with 55% watching YouTube videos every day on smartphones and 37% on tablets. However, smartphones are also second-best for linear TV viewing – after TV-sets; while tablets are often used for watching movies and On Demand TV series.
OTT TV and video viewers are primarily interested in finding desired content and accessing it in the most convenient way. This includes downloading video from the web. However, in searching for online streamed content people tend to turn to the TV and video services that they already know, rather than use search engines.
TV on the go is especially popular among the youth – 81% of respondents under 30 access TV or video on mobile every day.
Samsung is by far the most popular Smart TV brand among the SPB TV respondents. It holds a major share – 55% of all Smart TV users. LG follows with 33% of households. Other brands don’t stand up to the competition.
SPB TV also presented a new advertisement product for OTT TV, combining a targeted approach, broadcast ads detection and in-stream ads replacement with a multi-screen reach. “SPB TV Advertising is a one-stop-shop that allows accurate substitution of the commercial broadcast based on the user’s location, gender and age. It can deliver narrowly targeted and even personal ads for highly-effective campaigns,” stated SPB TV’s Co-Founder Sebastian-Justus Schmidt.