Ads.

Ah, that terrible, terrible word. Who hasn’t researched a million ways online to try to avoid those little interruptions during their season catch-up binge-watch?

The fact is, online video ads are here to stay. Not only are people apparently more receptive to them, but they also have a higher impact on viewers. This makes them great for marketing folks at your lovely local conglomerate. In fact, online video ad revenue spend is growing faster and faster, having overtaken broadcast TV in April this year (and cable TV before that).

Honestly, though, most of us wouldn’t mind a few strategically placed, well-targeted, or entertaining ads. After all, we understand that the episode that we’re streaming free has to be paid by someone, somewhere, and ads are a relatively harmless form of currency.

Still, that doesn’t excuse advertisers for just slapping them on every available surface — or even, at times, creating artificial breaks in episodes just to serve ads. Continue reading →