Only 10% of ads are delivered in a mobile-compatible format, illustrating that advertisers are missing out on a large, highly engaged target audience.
According to JW Player research, globally, audiences continue to consume video content on mobile devices (30%), specifically smartphones (only six% of viewers use a tablet) — but advertisers are not properly leveraging the medium.
"It is vital for content creators to stay up to date on the currently industry trends and technology usage in order to best advance their online video strategy," says Jeroen Wijering, founder of JW Player. "While the market has solidified in many ways, the most strategic video standards have still not been adopted widely in the industry, especially by advertisers. We hope our Trends in Online Video Report helps to support the need for greater HTML5 adoption in order to reach viewers on mobile devices and modern browsers and get the industry thinking about the best supporting technology for online video."
The research found that in addition to adapting to new mobile formats, advertisers face another challenge with increasing use of ad blocking technology around the world. This was specifically prevalent within Europe, with over one in four online video viewers utilising ad blocking in Germany. Globally, the ad blocking rate sits between 10% and 30% of users. JW Player believes the rise of ad blockers is due to the fact that today's users are increasingly disturbed by intrusive banner advertising and demand a greater level of control over their video experiences.
For those that do embrace mobile, 75% of ad impressions are delivered using the IAB VAST standard, and only 25% are delivered through Google IMA. About 60% of ad impressions use VPAID; and Google's DART is the most popular advertising server, overtaking Facebook's LiveRail.
Meanwhile, programmatic video continues to gain critical importance in the overall media mix for advertising.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) State of the Digital Video World report recently affirmed the vital role that both mobile and programmatic play in digital video advertising, and uncovered some key differences in the digital video marketplace from country to country.