The rise of online video viewership is fast gaining the attention of marketers, and now new metrics on this emerging channel may help advertisers capitalize on consumers’ increased interest in watching content on the web. ComScore has announced that it will offer a new video metrics service – Video Metrix 2.0 – that aims to give marketers a better overview of the web video platform.

“Online video has evolved in recent years from a medium delivering primarily user-generated content to a channel that now delivers a great deal of professionally produced long-form content,” said comScore’s senior director of video and cross-media products, Tania Yuki. “Consequently, more attention is rightfully being given to the monetization of the online video medium.”

The new service looks to offer insight on video ad network rankings with respect to the actual reach of ads per content video and content minutes per ad minute. Additionally, comScore will introduce a new Gross Rating Point metric to provide marketers with more useful cross-media comparisons of online videos and television.

In the announcement, comScore also revealed that Google sites were the top video properties last month in terms of unique video viewers, boasting 144, 501 unique viewers who participated in more than 1.8 million viewing sessions. However, Hulu took the lead when it came video ads viewed. Americans watched more than 4.3 billion video ads in June, and Hulu sites delivered more than 566 million of those ads to online audiences.

This information could be helpful to businesses planning to increase their online video advertising in the coming months. Data from PricewaterhouseCoopers indicates that many companies may fall into this category – budgets for interactive media, including online video ads, will reach $6.6 billion by 2014, according to the firm’s Global Media Outlook.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.