According to a new report from the Yankee Group, a media research firm, online video will soon be a dominant component of brand advertising. They offer the following reasons:

• Video conveys emotion better than text, images and audio.
• Non-linear online video combines the emotive power of television with the interactivity and measurability of internet advertising.
• Advertising in and around video is consistent with existing consumer expectations of advertising.
• Targeting of online video will continue and radically extend the trend established by the proliferation of cable network channels that established niche audiences to consumer brands.

According to Yankee, advertisers have been slow to make effective use of Internet video because of concerns about tracking results.

“Brand marketers are questioning the effectiveness and value of large expenditures on traditional advertising,” said Yankee’s Anette Schaefer. “In the long term, the internet needs to transform from a response platform to a brand medium to attract and secure larger budgets from brand advertising.”