ComScore stats show rapid UK video growth

The number of videos watched online in the UK increased by 47 percent between April last year and April this year, according to digital-world-measurers comScore.

The firm said on Monday that Google's sites, including YouTube, are still the most viewed and saw a 58 percent growth in video viewings over the year. The BBC's sites, including iPlayer, are in second place and saw a 67 percent increase, while ITV's video viewings, in third place, went up by 102 percent.

These statistics were published with particular regard to the online advertising community, which lives and dies on page views. It is difficult to draw a conclusion regarding actual web traffic, though. For example, a video viewed on iPlayer will likely be much longer and higher-definition than a video viewed on YouTube.

Nonetheless, comScore's figures demonstrate how quickly video consumption is increasing on the web, and call into question – yet again – the adequacy of our current broadband access conditions and the viability of Lord Carter's proposed 2Mbps universal coverage baseline speed. Video will continue to be a key driver of whatever happens.