Web users accessing hours of online video every month

November 17th, 2011

The number of hours the average web user is spending tuning into online videos is growing all the time, according to the latest research from global information and media company Nielsen.

The company has revealed that four hours and 38 minutes is now the average time spent watching online videos by users every month, which is double the amount of time spent in 2008.

The increasing prevalence and prominence of sources of online video, such as instructional videos, educational videos, virtual tours and self-posted videos on sites such as YouTube, has meant that online video now has a mass market appeal.

It also has an extremely wide reach as it is not limited to any particular local or national audience or marketplace, making it the marketing tool of choice for companies wishing to get their message out there.

Nielsen reported that the amount of time spent by web users streaming videos in the US has increased at a far faster pace than the number of viewers. Whilst the number of viewers has risen by 26 per cent over the last three years, the amount of hours spent tuning into online videos has more than doubled over the same time period.

Senior vice president of client research initiatives at Nielsen, Jo Holz, told Nielsen Wire, “The greater increase in time spent viewing compared to the number of unique viewers is likely due to an increase in the amount of video content available for viewers to watch, especially long-form content like movies and TV shows on sites like Netflix and Hulu.”

The time period which showed the most dramatic increase in online video usage was between August 2008 and August 2009, as online video production services continued to grow and expand their offerings to web users across the globe.

The sheer volume of available content boosted the usage of the medium to new heights, and it has only continuing on that upward spiral as online video becomes increasingly mainstream.