Dynamic ad insertion specialist Yospace has revealed that it integrated four billion one-to-one addressable ads into live streams over the course of the Olympic Games in Paris.

The findings were gathered from ad-funded broadcaster customers across four continents, and revealed surges in viewership for key moments that drove long streaming sessions.

Tim-Sewell

Tim Sewell, Yospace

According to Yospace, big events such as swimming and track finals created an afterglow effect: as news spread, traffic often continued to increase after the races had been decided, with ad breaks 10-15 minutes later earning more views than ones immediately before the start.

The company noted that niche fringe events also proved compelling viewing. The kayak cross event, making its debut at the Paris Olympics, emerged as an unexpected standout among the fringe events, Yospace said. The race captured the audience’s attention, with an 8% spike in traffic during the one minute 15 seconds it took for the competitors to battle it out on the water.

Tim Sewell, CEO at Yospace said: “These trends show that, for the streaming and adtech industry, the Olympics are all about seizing the key moments. Events like the kayak cross final, which can unfold in a flash, demonstrated how quickly these audience spikes can occur and how crucial it is to react instantly to capitalise on the advertising potential. With the event spanning just one hour and 30 minutes from quarter-final to gold medal, there’s little room for error — every second counts for advertisers looking to engage with the most captive audiences.”