Advertisers are gaining confidence in online video as an effective means of reaching targeted audiences.

According to a survey conducted by video ad network BrightRoll, 83 percent of respondents said they are receiving greater value for their spend this year than they were last year.

Lower rates, better targeting, more access to quality inventory and the emergence of performance-based metrics like cost per engagement (CPE) and cost per video view (CPV) all contributed to the perception of increased value, BrightRoll said.

The survey results include 56 percent of respondents stating that they view online video advertising as either “more effective” or “much more effective” than other forms of advertising.

Targeting was identified as online video’s most valuable asset by 32 percent of respondents, followed by ad unit format (21 percent), reach (19 percent), price relative to TV (10 percent) and ability to reuse creative (10 percent).

Forty-five percent of respondents said they would most like to base online ad spend on cost per video view, while 34 percent said cost per engagement and 16 percent said cost per impression (CPI), BrightRoll reported.

In 2009, advertisers, on average, bought 42 percent of their online video through ad networks, 43 percent of their video directly through publishers and only 15 percent through portals.

In 2010, the majority of advertisers plan to spend their creative budget on interactive pre-roll (54 percent) as opposed to branded entertainment (20 percent), consumer content or Webisodes (15 percent), or other forms of creative content (11 percent).