here’s some food for thought…as some may know, youtube launched its in-video advertising component last week. for those not familiar, across the bottom of a video screen, a flash-based overlay as will play while a clip is being watched. for users who find the ads too intrusive, a mere click will make them disappear. this move was an attempt to be "respectful of the community while offering something rich and engaging as a marketing platform," according to director eileen naughton. the overlay ad will appear over 20 percent of a video, 15 seconds after a clip has begun to play. it is approximately 80 percent transparent and will run for about 10 seconds.**
blah, okay… so last week, big advertisers bought up space and this week we have some results. no word on effectiveness yet, but what’s interesting is that an overwhelming amount of the ad dollars are being bought for videos developed by professional media companies -- not user-generated content. so despite youtube being known for its amateur content and viral nature, advertisers are staying close to home, close to what they know. i kinda feel like that defeats the whole purpose of advertising on youtube, no? it’s really only a matter of time before i hear someone saying “i know, let’s make a viral video, post it everywhere online, esp youtube and then we’ll make sure to sponsor it on youtube. double the dollars, double the results!” or something like that.
** sources: MarketingVox and The Guardian.
