Want to make Web video watchers and Web video advertisers happy? Do it with a short ad at the beginning of the clip, and then another ad that pops up while the clip is running.

So says Viacom’s MTV, which reached that conclusion after testing various ad units in more than 50 million video clips it ran across its various sites. Viacom (VIA) says the intro-and-overlay package works best for advertisers’ “brand lift,” which it defines via metrics like unaided awareness, aided awareness and purchase intent.

Read more.  I’ve always liked the idea of a short 5-second ad at the beginning… I can’t imagine the 30-second pre-roll disappearing but if you do the combo of a shorter ad at the beginning and then the longer ad in the middle, that does seem like a better combination.  The problem is most of Viacom’s content is suitable for that 5-30 kind of format (5 second upfront, then 30 in the middle), whereas YouTube’s content… less so.

Disclaimer: YouTube is a distribution partner of ours.