Online video advertising is taking off – because most of the ads are just plain ol’ TV commercials.

Ruth Cartwright, the broadcast director at GroupM’s Maxus agency, told Beet.TV at the recent London Video Ad Strategy Summit her outfit is spending six to 10 percent of clients’ budgets on online video ads.

“Ninety percent of the clients in the UK are using their TV copy – a standard 30- to 40-second campaign, using that straight on to pre-roll. There is a lot of research that 15 seconds is the best time length on pre-roll. If we have the opportunity, we should be making more of the creative opportunities of VOD.

“We don’t want to have to go back to them and say they have to change certain time lengths or make the process harder.”