Why Hulu Won’t Run Pre-Roll Ads

Hulu, the newly launched video platform from NBC Universal and News Corp., is experimenting with different ad formats for short- and long-form content. One tried-and-true tactic it is not using: 30-second units running before clips and full-length shows. For the 90 half-hour and full-hour programs it carries, Hulu runs sponsor introductions (rather than pre-roll commercials) at the start of the shows. Many have a single sponsor, with half-hour programs running two minutes of ads—about 25 percent the amount shown on traditional TV. (Hulu's practice discourages advertisers from running the same spot several times per episode.) It is embracing the new format of video overlays, pioneered by startup Videoegg and subsequently adopted by Google for YouTube. With overlays, viewers are presented with small ad invitations while viewing videos. Clicking such invites allows ad messages to play. Nissan is using video overlays to promote its Rogue SUV.
http://www.lostremote.com/2007/11/01/why-hulu-wont-run-pre-roll-ads/