After purchasing YouTube last November for $1.65 billion, Google has yet to show how they plan on getting their money back. It’s been assumed that this would come from some sort of ad revenue scheme, but just how has remained a mystery. Last night, they announced that they were introducing a new type of video ad that was “unobtrusive and kept users in control of what they saw.”
After starting a video, the new ads will pop up on the bottom fifth of the window – similar to news updates on TV. The ad will stay there for about 10 seconds if left alone. However, the viewer has the option of closing the ad after it pops up, or alternatively, clicking on the ad. If clicked on, their current video will pause and a new window will open and a video ad will begin playing. When the video ad is over, the window will close and the original video will resume from where it stopped.
The New York Times reports:
“What we have come up with is a user-controlled ad format that is engaging,” said Eileen Naughton, Google’s director for media platforms. “We want our users to be able to accept and choose what type of advertising they engage in.”
For now, Google will place the ads only on video clips of its content partners — the more than 1,000 small and large media companies that have licensed their videos to YouTube. By doing so, YouTube will avoid the potential liability of having ads appear on copyrighted clips it is not authorized to display. And it will also prevent ads from playing on clips generated by users whose message may not be to the liking of advertisers.
The revenue from the ads will be split between the media partner and YouTube. Ms. Naughton said Google would charge advertisers $20 for every 1,000 times the ads were displayed. Google said the ads would begin appearing today throughout the site. Ms. Naughton also said advertisers would be able to take aim at specific channels and genres, as well as demographic profiles, geography and hour of the day.
New York Times: Google Aims to Make YouTube Profitable with Ads
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