BBC: Embeds Work

Oliver Luft, Om Malik, and Liz Gannes all highlight how the BBC is looking for greater relevance and added value in online video use. I’d like to point out something else BBC News Interactive head Pete Clifton mentioned at the Future of News Conference, something far too many online marketers still don’t understand: video embeds generate clickthroughs.

“The results from the trial we did with embedded video were hugely positive in terms of the conversion rate of people reading the stories and watching the video,” Mr Clifton told the conference.

“With the embedded video, up to 40 per cent of people were watching it. In its normal format, when you watch it in a different place [in a standalone player], it’s about two per cent.

The BBC has always held a positive attitude towards video superdistribution, hence their awesome deal with YouTube. I’m not surprised they’d quantify the benefits of embeds. Far too many online video producers still trap their videos on their sites like greedy little dinosaurs.