US online video viewing up in March

The number of online videos watched by US web users during March rose by 11 per cent to 14.5 billion compared with the previous month.

This is according to new figures from comScore, which show that 149.4 million web users accessed an online video last month.

YouTube was the most visited online video site during March, followed by Fox Interactive Media - which owns MySpace - and Hulu.

In total, 77.8 per cent of all American internet users watched an online clip during the month, with the average viewer seeing almost 5.5 hours of online footage over the course of March.

About 99.7 million people watched videos on YouTube, while 47.4 million turned to MySpace.

According to a recent forecast from media services firm Magna, US advertisers will spend $699 million (£472.9 million) on internet video ads as part of their online strategy in 2009, representing a 32 per cent year-on-year increase.

Spending is likely to surpass the $1 billion mark by 2011, the report suggested.

This news story was brought to you by Bluhalo, a leading UK digital agency.