Tim (O'Reilly) and Fred (Wilson) are Wrong About Pre-Roll Ads

By Paul Kedrosky · Monday, December 11, 2006 ·
Tim and Fred are wrong about the impending death of pre-roll advertisements. While the blogger intelligentsia and media-hip sorts may think the things are doomed, they're dead wrong that most consumers won't watch 'em.

Recall: People used to boo ads before movies. Now, as I re-discovered in seeing Casino Royale the other night, such pre-movie ads make up 17% or more of the movie length (20 minutes on an average 120-minute flick). I didn't see anyone walk out before Casino Royale, and I doubt most people will shut off 30-second YouTube segments over 5-10-second pre-roll ads there either.

While I'm no fan of pre-roll ads -- whether before movies or before clips of subtitled Iraqis -- pretending they won't be a mainstay of online video and its ilk is utopian dreaming.
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