LONDON – Few video watchers could have failed to notice how YouTube is amping up the frequency of pre-roll ads on the service. But what will that bring to the operator’s bottom line?
“We estimate this year YouTube will generate about $4 billion in advertising revenue,” analyst Ian Maude of Enders Analysis told Beet.TV’s recent London Video Ad Strategy Summit.
Maude said data also shows YouTube is now more popular than BBC iPlayer on UK cable operator Virgin Media’s connected TiVO service – probably because Virgin Media has situated its YouTube app on a conventional channel number in its linear EPG.
“Overall TV viewing is growing, but that’s largely being driven by older people,” Maude added. “We’re seeing a divergence between what the under-35s and over-35s are doing.”