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Google Testing Ad Supported Free Videos

posted on June 23, 2006


We knew it was coming, and today Google announces they are running a pilot to test ad supported videos for premium content on Google Video.

Interestingly, Google serves-up the ads at the end of the videos and the service will allow viewers to watch premium content for free.

How it works:

1. Advertisers select and bid to sponsor individual videos.

2. The winning bidders for each video are promoted in three ways:

- The ability to run a 15-30 second post-roll video ad

- Persistent branding while the video is playing through a text and icon above the video player

- A listing on the sponsored videos page

3. If a user navigates to one of the sponsored videos, we only show the in-stream video ad once the video has finished playing. If the user clicks the text, logo or visible URL above the video window, they will be taken to the advertiser’s site.

4. At the conclusion of the campaign, the advertiser will receive stats on the performance of his/her campaign.

It will be interesting to see how many people actually watch the ads. While it’s great that Google is not ramming the ads down viewers throats before watching the content, click-thrus will surely be lower by placing the ad after the video.


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  • http://blendingthemix.com Paul Fabretti

    Great posting Andy! It seems that with the recent “affiliate” scheme they are launching shortly, that Google are really ramping up their advertising products.

    I agree with your point about the likely low CTR of the ads at the end but I guess there is the trade-off that if the masses realise their Google Videos might be riddled with in-your-face ads then everyone migrates to youtube!

    The trick with the embedded ads is relevance (as always!). If , as you post, advertisers are bidding for a specific popular video, there is no doubt going to be a degree of matching – the video subject aligns with the brands’ target market, but, just like TV advertisers and TiVo dilemma, how do you make the target market watch the ad when they can simply close the window (or in TiVo’s case, just fast forward) the ad.

    A compelling, similar-themed (as the sponsored video) microsite or page has got to be the answer. If advertisers are able to choose a specific ad, then they have the opportunity (and time!) to align the content of the post-video content to the video itself, ensuring that the very essence of what made the video so popular is also associated with the brand.

    Is this the video form of Adsense?

    Is this likely to fuel a massive surge in “adsense-only website” videos purely for commercial gain or will the “proper” advertisers ensure a decent bit of quality?

  • http://www.teraom.com teraOm

    Ok, this has just com real. Youtube ll run sponsored videos. Imagine searching for “sports” and seeing some junk video. Sucks!!

    teraOm’s last blog post..Sony Ericsson W595 – W595a Review

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