Google Video Ads Have Arrived

Check out the latest online advertising idea from Google. Embedded video ads. I like how they went with a subtle overlay approach on the bottom of the video. I had thought they would have gone with the standard 10-15 second ad clip before the video, which I hate... and I think they realized folks hate.

The interesting thing about this ad format is it gives control to the viewer. The ad overlay only shows up for about 10-15 seconds during the viewing of the video clip. During that time the user can decide to click it and watch the ad, or ignore. It will disappear if you choose to ignore it. Very clever and user-friendly.

The only downside I see from the start is the size of the market for such ads. Since they are embedding video within video, it would appear you would need to have a budget to be able to create a video ad, which most of us small-timers don't have.

It would be cool if they would allow smaller advertisers the ability to just create overlay ads and when clicked they would launch a new browser window to the destination website. That would open the door for thousands of additional advertisers to utilize the technology.

This is only going to help grow their already dominant video market share (YouTube) by enabling amateur videographers to now make money on their viral videos. It is a great win-win situation. I'm thinking of doing more video stuff now because of this.

The cost is going to be set right now to $20 CPM (cost-per-mil, or more informally how much you pay per 1000 ad impressions). I wonder how they came to this number? I would have to guess the CPM payout would be higher than standard since you are guaranteeing prime placement in the viewing area... where on a web page you really are not sure what you are getting in regards to placement. In this new embedded model you get the users focused attention, since they actually requested the ad play.

Lots of money to be made. As always, good work Google.