Online video continues to rise in popularity and online video advertising rates are falling. Prices for ads on top-tier sites in 2012 last year were down by 10 percent from 2011, according to estimates from video-ad company BrightRoll. And of the 39 billion videos viewed online in December, only 23 percent carried video ads, according to comScore. While there’s room for ad growth, there may not be enough money to go around.

“Spending on online-video advertising is expected to top $4.1 billion this year, according to eMarketer, up 41 percent from 2012,” notes the Wall Street Journal. But competition for a share of that is fierce, it adds. “…more than 217 different companies, including video ad networks and publishers, sold at least one million video ads in 2012, according to comScore. In comparison, about 21 media companies shared ad spending of $54 billion on national TV ads last year, according to Kantar Media.”

In other words, there is not enough to go around, according to Michael Bologna, director of emerging communications at WPP’s GroupM. “Ad buyers and some publishers blame the influx of inventory, combined with the rise of so called ‘programmatic ad buying’ — automated buying of ads through digital platforms — for pricing declines,” writes WSJ.

“There is one bright side to the price decline,” notes the article. “Measured in cost per thousand views, the price for online-video ads on at least some sites is now in the same ballpark as some traditional television programming. And that could help fuel a shift of ad dollars to online video from television, industry executives say — the only way the online-video ad market will get big enough to sustain all the new entrants.”

“Ultimately, the dollars will have to come from television. Will it come from television tomorrow, I don’t know,” said Dawn Ostroff, president of Condé Nast’s entertainment division. Ostroff said she believes Condé Nast has a good chance of standing out among the surge, thanks in part to the popularity of the company’s brands.