Children between 2 and 12 years old are more likely to see, recall and act upon ads they see on YouTube than broadcast and cable channels, according to a new study by Precise TV.
The study, conducted for Precise TV by Giraffe Insights found that YouTube is the most popular way for U.S. kids to consume content. Among the kids in the study 70% said they recall ads on YouTube, compared to 35% who said they recalled ads on broadcast and cable.
When kids were subsequently asked to recall where they saw advertised items that they asked their parents to buy them, 34% said YouTube, 15% said TV and 9% said in-store.
Similarly when parents were asked where they had seen ads that led to purchases for their children, 25% said YouTube, 12% said TV and 10% said online websites.
Precise TV is a contextual targeting company that was the first to be COPPA certified as being safe for kids.
Christian Dankl, Precise TV co-founder and chairman, told Broadcasting+Cable his company never used cookies to track consumers and was COPPA certified before Google’s 2019 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over violating children’s privacy.
Precise TV uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict who will watch certain content based on contextual signals, as well as a proprietary survey of viewers. The algorithm has an 86% accuracy rate, he said.
Dankl said that with the shift of viewing from linear TV to streaming, YouTube now has much more reach, particularly among youngsters. Traditionally, TV was thought to be a more effective ad vehicle because it appeared on the big screen. But as YouTube is more frequently consumed on big screens via connected devices, that advantage is dissipating.
Marketers are spending more on streaming and YouTube has been a beneficiary. And return on advertising investment is growing, particularly because clients are seeing gains in both awareness at the top of the marketing funnel as well as purchase intent and conversions at the bottom of the funnel.
But targeting on YouTube has become more difficult because its channels have become broader, Dankl said.
Precise TV offers advertisers more control, more brand protection and better targeting on YouTube by picking specific videos within those channels, he said.
Dankl said Precise TV also has clients selling grown-up products, including Adobe, Chanel, Hilton and Jaguar.
