Mobile Video Struggles Persist While Tolerance for Them Decreases

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Photo by Rodion Kutsaev.

It looks like the quality mobile content experts say we can expect from 5G will be much appreciated by consumers. Mobile video is more popular than ever, among both consumers and digital advertisers, but the medium is plagued by slow load times and suboptimal ads.

That’s per a new report out from mobile video vendor Penthera. The Q1 report, which was conducted in conjunction with an independent research firm and surveyed 800 people, found that 88% of respondents are experiencing frustrations with mobile video, a hike of seven percentage points from the rate in 2018.

The most common issues were both technical and conceptual. Fifty-nine percent of respondents indicated experiencing buffering in the middle of a viewing experience, and 48% said videos have taken too long to start. Nearly half, also 48%, of respondents said they have been rankled by advertisements that disrupt or figure into their mobile video viewing.

Particularly alarming for companies investing in mobile video is the apparent decline in consumers’ tolerance for subpar mobile experiences. While half of respondents, a sizable 50%, reported being willing to accept sometimes frustrating video on mobile in 2018, that number sank to 43% in 2019, indicating that as the medium becomes more popular, expectations will likewise rise.

The good news is that, for vendors and advertisers churning out high-quality content, audiences are wide and willing. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they stream videos on mobile weekly or even more frequently, an impressive jump of over 30% from 52% of those asked in the previous year’s survey.

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Joe Zappa is the Managing Editor of Street Fight. He has spearheaded the newsroom's editorial operations since 2018. Joe is an ad/martech veteran who has covered the space since 2015. You can contact him at [email protected]