WebProNews

Modern-day Web browsing often seems like the Old MacDonald song with ads substituted for animals - they're simply everywhere.  And just as they'll respond to performances of the song, people can get sick of video ads pretty quickly, according to a new study.

Video ads might even be worse; we can't imagine too many folks walking out on a children's skit, but BurstMedia states, "Among respondents, one-half (50.7%) stop watching an online video once they encounter an in-stream advertisement."

Also, "15.3% of respondents immediately leave the website once they encounter an in-stream advertisement," and "half (49.7%) of respondents say the presence of in-stream advertising in online video content makes them less likely to view other video content they may encounter online."

This makes the outlook for in-stream ads seem rather dim, and from a viewer's point of view, that isn't a bad thing.  One key piece of information may keep advertisers onboard, however: young males are more tolerant of in-stream ads than any other segment of the population.  Granted, the young and the old are the two groups least likely to remember the ads, but, well, something is better than nothing.

John Gartner notes, "The pressure is greater than ever on advertisers to make their content as entertaining as possible."