Don’t Worry: Nobody Else Is Making Money On This Stuff Either

In yet another sign that eyeballs are way ahead of revenues when it comes to online video, Silicaon Alley Insider and video analytics firm TubeMogul polled thousands of producers on their monetization models. While the sample was relatively unscientific and wildly diverse, the results still are indicative of a platform waiting for a workable model. Only 51% of respondents claim to see money on their video, and $12 seems to be the typical CPM. Almost 27% say they monetize all their video inventory, although I can’t say whether that means they are monetixzing it very well. Too much video I see contains house ads, even as the publisher claim they are selling out inventory. On the other hand, almost half are selling less than half of their inventory, with 23% monetizing only 15% or less of their video. Nearly half of all video that is being sold is being done with a partner, which means that whatever CPMs do accrue get parsed in some way.

The full data is available in a window at the SAI site and it is worth reading, if only for the anecdotes respondents provide at the end. Never prodcut video with your own money, one wise publisher recommends. Oops. That advice comes too late for many of us.