Google Launching AdSense for Video - Minus the Video
After nearly a year in closed beta, Google is expected to announce tonight that its AdSense for Video program is now open to publishers. When the program's pilot was announced last May, AdSense for Video was intended to serve up video-in-video ads. Today the video part is gone, replaced by CPM banners and CPC text overlays.
Launch participant Brightcove said in a release tonight that "Publishers and content providers can control which videos get which ads and when the ads play in each video." Am I the only one that hates those damned pop up text overlay ads that show up on other services' videos?
Last October, Google started letting AdSense publishers include YouTube videos as ads on their sites. Last week the company announced that it is experimenting with running video ads on its own search results pages.
There is clearly a lot of room to experiment with video ads.
In some cases even interstitial videos inside a video can be done well, check out almost any of the work of video ad network Castfire, for example. Castfire has a very sophisticated technology for serving up ads in video. While at first blush this San Francisco startup might seem to be in trouble given tonight's news - in reality, AdSense for Video will be about monetizing bulk, remainder and less-than-high quality video more than anything else. That leaves plenty of room in the market for startups taking other approaches, like serving video ads inside of videos - as Google said it was going to do.
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STOKED !!!
Wow!! Is it finally happening? Am I going to be able to make money on my 1.5 million Youtube/Google Video views?
It seems to me that Google's Non-Video AdSense for Video may be a response to traditional video ads that significantly disrupt the user's experience. Although Castfire does a good job integrating ads, we need to recognize that no matter how good, ads do not replace content.
The reason Google's textual ads are so good is that they are so unobtrusive - they blend into the page. Notice that you don't see ads in the actual search results section. I hope that Google will follow this route for its AdSense for Video.
I would be more likely to remain engaged with a video that had a simple (unobtrusive) text overlay, or even a simple video overlay (reminiscent of TV stations putting in little adverts for an upcoming show at the bottom of the screen). It could be made so if the user hovers over the ad, the video stops temporarily and the ad plays out (possibly, pay-per-hover could be an ad model in which companies pay if the user hovers over it, and so allows it to run without the primary content video distracting them).
So much the better if the user is given the option of turning the ads off. The bottom line is that there's no way to force viewers to watch ads, and a smooth integration with content will, I imagine, be the most effective solution.
I really think that the market is still wide open in the realm of what works and what doesn't for video. Our approach at Castfire has very much been focused on monetization across multiple devices/platforms - not just flash for the web - and has guided a lot of our decisions. However, I think everyone is still trying to figure out the best solution for the different types of video the are produced - they are not all the same.
Interesting conversations over the last couple of days, fueled again by Google's announcement, are really bringing to light the differences in content and monetization. Kent Nichols' post regarding brand advertising and VideoEgg's engagement announcement raises many great points. I love Chris Albrecht's quote:
I hope we begin to focus on the different types of content and how best to monetize each. Generally, UGC content is in short clips, with a single idea. Branded, episodic content is entirely different, with a consistent format and additional time in pre/post production. Instructional videos, by perhaps Make Magazine or Start Cooking, have unique challenges and monetization opportunities unto themselves.
We are still at the beginning of the video wave, and tool sets are needed to assist each type of content. That will ensure that publishers can maintain their freedom and create the best content for their audience, and not create content that fits the best advertising.
Apparently Google are partnering with YuMe.
Interesting comments above about how ads don't replace content and what would keep you engaged. With a video approach, there are many different ways to integrate an ad into a clip and some involve inserting interactive content.
Full disclosure: my company, YuMe, is one of the Google partners on this announcement. Take a look at the examples of different types of ads in our ad gallery on the YuMe site, notably the "Interactive Overlay: Click to Video" example. There's an ad for the Rambo movie, which, when clicked, takes you to a trailer for the movie.
It's not just about pre-roll anymore. Through the Google-YuMe partnership, there are number of different ways to approach an InVideo ad, including the ability to pick-and-chose which ad format works best for different types of content.
i had seen all the samples in YuMe gallery
it's cool! some are so funny.
enjoy the content and ads both
best wishes
from China
Google Adsense is the flagship of contextual advertising! Really the best webmaster program for earning money!
Thanks for a very informative post. I will be sending your blog link to my readers.