Online video advertising, c'mon baby, you can do it

We've heard it before and will hear it again, and again, and again during this economic downturn that marketers are moving online, taking their budgets to the Information Super Highway, specifically to online video. It's been reported many times that online video advertising is growing as it is more targeted, better tracked, and more easily reported.

A recent study by BrightRoll of interactive ad agencies found some interesting insight on how agencies will spend their money in '09 and why:

• 87% of agency executives plan to spend more of their online advertising budgets on video in 2009
• 71% of survey participants view online video advertising as a complementary medium to television
• A majority of respondents estimates CPM prices to be at their lowest, and 20% thinks the price of pre-roll will drop to half what it is today
• Prices of pre-roll continue to fall (early Q2 data suggests this trend will continue) 

We've found online video advertising CPMs, in general, to be rather lack-luster as well, unless videos are clearly defined within the metadata, and ads are available to be served against those videos (typically found in proprietary content). The problem, once past these hurdles, seems to be one of inventory. There just aren't enough ads that fit...perfectly. Sure, you can serve an ad for toothpaste on a YouTube video of a kid knocking his teeth out doing a rail slide down a 45 step handrail, but will anyone click on that ad...especially the 14 year old kids watching them? Nyet. 

I enjoyed this peice on the subject from MediaPost where agencies and web publishers banter on whether it's a matter of inventory shortage or abundance. As previously stated, I believe it to be a problem of the right ad for the right piece of conent. What do you think?