Extreme Reach reports finds ads getting longer

Connected TV continues to grow and accounted for 49% of digital video ad impressions in the first quarter, according to a new report from Extreme Reach.

Extreme Reach, whose AdBridge platform hosues 13 million creative assets for advertisers and their agencies, said in its Video Benchmark Report that while connected TV’s share of ad impressions are growing, mobile video ads accounted for just 25% of all ad impressions in the quarter, their lowest since first quarter 2017,

The report also found that digital video ad impressions are getting longer, with the share of six-second video ad impressions becoming negligible.

Because CTV ads are hard to skip, they have a 97% completion rate, with 30-second ads representing 69% of the total, up 20% from the fourth quarter, which 30-second ads became the most common length, supplanting 15-second spots.

Extreme Reach expects that 60-second spots will become more prominent going forward. At this point, 60s represent 3% of all ads, up five-fold from a year ago. The company adds that two-minute ads showed up in its survey for the first time in the first quarter at 0.1% and that it expects those to grow as well given the captive nature of the CTV audience.

During the first quarter Extreme Reach found that nearly all of the CTV ads came from premium publishers and were sold directly to agencies and advertisers who are looking to capitalize on the ability to target and measure their audiences.

“The digital advertising ecosystem is undergoing a total disruption which is driven by the growth of non-linear TV formats. The upside is significant for nearly everyone,” said Mary Vestewig, senior director, video account management at Extreme Reach. “Publishers are able to maximize the value of their inventory which will bring the revenue needed to create more high-quality programming. Meanwhile, audiences have an unprecedented selection of entertainment options and with new capabilities for targeting they should get more personalized and relevant advertising.”