YouTube’s New Video Ads

YouTube this week unveiled ad units for it’s videos after months of testing. Google, parent company of YouTube, are confident that they have found a format that will satisfy marketers without upsetting their viewers.

The good news is that the [tag-tec]YouTube video ads[/tag-tec] seem un-intrusive and user friendly. The same ad is not displayed on each viewing, if it was then it could be counter productive and turn people off.

In YouTube’s new ad format, a translucent pane appears for 10 seconds on the bottom fifth of the video screen; click to see the ad, and the video pauses and the ad plays. When the ad is finished, the video picks up where it left off.

If Google believes it has cracked the code for making money from video on the Web, and if they are right, the new ad format could do more than monetize YouTube, it could create a whole new way to make money on the Internet.

There are, however, several complicating factors that could cause problems for Google. For example:

1. YouTube has a big viewing audience but not too much original quality content. They will need a greater collection of content that advertisers can relate to, to be successful.

2. Google’s successful AdSense ads are simple to make with little cost. On the other hand video ads will require expensive production tools so many small advertisers will not be able to afford the relatively costly adverts.

3. Adsense advertisers bid to have their ads appear when people search for certain terms. The ads appear on web pages when the terms are keyed into the search. However, linking an ad to relavent video content might be much more difficult. Time will tell.

Have a look at this video to see what it is all about.