2009 Ad Research Highlights and What’s on Tap for 2010

YouTube sales research had a banner year in 2009 – we completed more than 160 studies demonstrating how YouTube paid media can boost users’ brand engagement, change their media consumption habits, and even influence their purchasing habits! Here’s a few highlights from 2009:

• Sparking users’ interest: We showed that advertising on the YouTube homepage increased audience’s engagement with the advertiser brand, making them much more likely than a control group to search on advertisers’ branded terms and visit their sites. Users saw these ads and wanted to learn more! (If you’d also like to learn more, look here for a recording of our webinar with our research partner Compete).
• Brand boosting: Dozens of studies showed that paid media on YouTube not only drives traffic to users’ brand channels and contests, but also directly affects users’ brand awareness and favorability.
• Bottom-line: Custom research projects with advertiser partners showed that YouTube paid media directly influences which television shows users watch, as well as their offline purchasing.

Here’s a preview of what we’ll cover this year:

More industry focus. This year, we’ll expand our homepage research to cover more industries and industry subverticals such as TV shows, video games, and theatrical film releases. We’ll also feature case studies covering a wider range of industries.

More user focus. Because YouTube is the #1 destination for online video, we have a front-row view of how consumers use online video in their daily lives. We’re going to share with you our perspective on how that’s changing, and the new ways consumers are using online video.

Gettin’ funky with research. We want to shake things up this year, exploring different research creatives and new ways to look at campaign performance. Stay tuned for more!

Here’s to 2010!

Posted by Leah Spalding, YouTube Market Insights Manager