Google Says Online Ads Influence Moviegoing.

In a Google/Nielsen study of 2,000 US moviegoers, we again confirm what we've known for years — online content and advertising impact moviegoing audiences' moviegoing decisions.

Highlights from the study:

TV and the Web hold almost the same amount of sway over potential moviegoers–as 68% of respondents said that TV was influential in their decision to see the film, while 66% said the same about the Internet.

24% of moviegoers polled said they had watched the trailer for the movie they'd just seen online
91% of these said that it was "very or somewhat" influential in their decision to see it.

Moviegoers who had seen ads and content were:
68% more likely to search for more information on the film
130% more likely to visit the official movie Web site
23% more likely to talk to others about the movie than their info-only counterparts.

Respondents who'd seen both ads and Web info pertaining to the movie were 40% more likely to recommend it to their family or friends.

The report also found that the number of moviegoers who said the Web was their first source of information about the movie they had just seen increased from 8% in 2006, to 13% in 2007–a 63% increase year-over-year.

Here's the rub, though: No matter how much research comes out saying that online advertising impacts moviegoing, it will always be just part of the equation. A very important part, but a part nonetheless. Television advertising is still (for now) what most directly impacts overall audience awareness for a film.

Why? Because there is such a disproportionate amount money spent on television, that it is impossible for online to make a dent. If you watch television frequently, there is no doubt that you will see the same ad for a film a dozen times. For each one of those ads run above the optimal frequency you could have "owned" the homepages of some of the most popular sites on the web in a way that is more targeted, more relevant, and more engaging.

The problem is that the movie business is such a high-risk business, that there just isn't that much room for experimentation when there is lots of money involved. And that's got to change. That might mean minimizing the costs of making a film in favor of using dollars to explore new ways of marketing films.

What's interesting is that while Hollywood continues to not put enough money on the web, the industry that I'm starting to pay attention to the web the most, is the one that's Hollywood's favorite ad dollar receptacle: television.

The television industry sees the writing on the wall. Will Hollywood step up?

Hollywood's online budgets are bigger than they ever have been. But it's still not enough. And when they do get the money (they will — it's inevitable), will they know what to do with it? Will they be able to strike the right balance between paid advertising (without too high of a frequency), content distribution, promotions, and buzz-generating/word-of-mouth-driving/zeitgeist-entering ideas?

I sure hope so. If not, I know someone that can help.