The bane of Web video: Rebuffering

The moment a Web video pauses mid-stream to load more content, the vast majority of viewers give up, according to a new study.

Video analytics firm TubeMogul looked at 192 million streams over two weeks from several content delivery networks, such as Akamai and Edgecast. When rebuffering -- pre-loading more content to prevent further stoppage -- occurs, 81 percent of viewers bail out. The study also found that 7 percent of video from these delivery networks is slow-loading, requiring at least one rebuffer.

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Tubemogul says the research shows how Web video is still inadequate for a TV-like experience. "And if it's an advertiser hosting video on a branded site or distributing it across the Web, people are just clicking away when they see that spinning wheel," David Burch, TubeMogul's marketing director, told MediaPost. The group says it's fair to conclude that less ads are being watched as a result of rebuffering, making Web video less attractive to publishers.

There may be some truth to that, but I think it's important to point out how most people watch Web video today. According to Nielsen's Three Screen Report from this month, the average consumer spent 22 minutes watching online video in the third quarter. Nielsen's previous report noted that short-form video clips, such as YouTube, accounted for 83 percent of online video viewing in May 2009.

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If people are generally watching short-form videos, of course they're more inclined to bail out when the video stutters. Waiting a minute to watch the last 20 seconds of a two-minute clip is not going to be worthwhile. But as services such as Boxee aim to replace cable with long-form content, I'd be more interested to see how people respond to a variety of factors, not just to rebuffering, but to advertisements as well. Publishers need to know if they should be investing more in Web video or trying to make the cable business model last forever.

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