MSN is reducing the number of pre-roll ads it will show to users as part of its redesign and roll-up of the Soapbox player into the larger video portal.

Rob Bennett, MSN’s general manager, video, entertainment and sports, told Mediaweek, “The feedback on pre-roll is pretty mixed. We’ve definitely heard from our users that they’d prefer longer interval between ads.”

No kidding. Like YouTube, Soapbox’s content is mostly short form video “snacks.” But according to Mediaweek, Bennett says that MSN users will now only see a video ad every three minutes they spend streaming content on the site.

Every three minutes? It is no wonder that consumers of online video think there’s too much advertising. Every three minutes is simply ridiculous for content like that. If a traditional broadcast network tried to serve a mid-roll ad every three minutes into professionally produced content, users would revolt, and I’d support them. And thats for content actually worth watching.

This is another example of a company that should be taking a leadership position simply missing the boat. C’mon MSN & Yahoo! What gives? How many :30 second Netflix ads do I need to sit through when I want to catch a few clips of breaking news?

This isn’t MSN’s first failure with Soapbox either. As noted previously, MSN has had a string of blunders with their video platform. Maybe they’ll at least get the videos to play this time ’round.

We’re calling on Mike Hurt, Director of Ad Products for MSN and Chairman of the IAB’s Digital Video Committee, to push back on Redmond. Mike is one of the brightest minds in the online video space, and this 3-minute fiasco completely underminds his efforts to drive the industry forward without reeking of hypocrisy.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 4:50 pm and is filed under News, Streaming, User Generated, Video Portals, Viral, advertising, editorial, rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.