• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, August 15, 2013

Video advertising is alive and well. The number of online video ad impressions in the second quarter rose 40% over the first quarter, according to video ad platform Videology.

Mobile video too saw a healthy rise, with a 73% increase in the number of ads in the second quarter.

Consumer packaged goods advertisers have always commanded the lion’s share of digital video ad dollars, but they are also among the fastest growing categories. CPG marketers comprised 35% of the ads on the Videology platform in the second quarter, and grew its share of video impressions by 13% compared to the first quarter, according to an analysis of nearly 2 billion impressions Videology served in the second quarter.

The second quarter was good to other categories as well, Videology said. Auto saw a 5% bump in share of impressions, travel a 2% rise and health care a 2% boost. CPG rules the roost, though. With more than one-third share of video ads, CPG is nearly three times ahead of auto, the next category behind it with 13% of video ads in the quarter, then restaurants with 9%.

Interestingly, the data suggests that ads are becoming more advanced. The share of advanced targeted spots rose 14% for the second quarter, with consumer behavior the dominant means for segmenting ads. Advanced ads include behaviorally targeted, geo-targeted and daypart-targeted ads. Specifically, marketers targeted by behavior at 49%, via geography at 34%, then via daypart for 17%.

Other interesting shifts occurred in the second quarter. Entertainment websites were the most popular destination for running online video ads, but gaming sites rose 7% and news 5% in share. Still, about 55% of video ad impressions ran on entertainment sites, 11% on gaming sites and 9% on news sites.