Net video ads get consumer nod

Net video advertisements are more welcome to Web surfers than pop-up ads and even, in some cases, TV commercials, a new survey shows. Roughly 72 percent of people surveyed by market research firm Dynamic Logic reacted favorably to new Net video commercials, compared with 62 percent for TV ads and 22 percent for pop-ups. Video commercials were introduced in mid-January when a raft of Web publishers, including ABCNews.com, ESPN and Microsoft's MSN, started featuring them. The technology, developed by ad company Unicast Communications, enables the delivery of full-screen online commercials between Web pages with virtually no delay, as opposed to streaming technology that can experience hiccups.

Dynamic Logic's study shows that the messages were likely to increase a marketer's brand awareness by 54 percent and influence the customers' desire to buy the advertised product by 47 percent. Advertisers in the survey included AT&T, Honda and Pepsi.