Fred Wilson: Post-Roll May be Better

Fred posted a theory on Youtube using pre-roll ads to monitize its site. That drew a ton of feedback. Now Fred is back and thinks that maybe post-rolls are the answer.

From the post:

"Here are my big takeaways from all that feedback:

1. Many people think that sticking a pre-roll ad in front of web video will severely reduce their popularity. I agree but it also depends on the content. It could work for SNL clips, it probably won’t work for kids falling off skateboards.
2. Many people think a $15cpm will never happen for web video on a service like YouTube. I think they are wrong and that it will happen.
3. Several people (including Umair, who I always pay attention to) think the whole purpose of a service like YouTube is to blur the lines between content and advertising. They should be one and the same. I totally agree with them.

I think the ending frame is the killer post-roll advertisement. I don’t think they should run a video post-roll, they should just monetize those links.

I think YouTube ought to take a page out of Google’s playbook (if they haven’t already) and make one of the links paid and one organic. I’d suggest the top link be organic and the bottom be paid.

This post, plus the YouTube’s potential revenue post, and the NBBC post sort of summarize my current thinking on web video. It’s a huge phenomenon already. And it’s only going to get bigger in the coming years. It will be monetized. And I think we are beginning to see the path for how this all plays out."