Google has added video to its current catalogue of text, static image, banner and flash animation ads, which it provides to other sites.
The search engine colossus plans to place online video ads on the many websites in US, Canada and Japan where it sells advertising, though for the moment they will not appear on Google’s own sites. However, that is likely to change.
The first video ads will appear this week on the overseas sites and will last up to two minutes. There are plans to roll out the innovation to other regions “shortly”.
Ad-haters who generally speed past adverts on TV, needn’t worry that the ads will interrupt their internet browsing. That’s because they will all be “click-to-play”. According to Google AdSense, the network that produces 58% of Google’s revenue: “Unlike some intrusive advertising, users will have complete control. When a page loads, only a static image will be visible; the video will not start playing until the user initiates it. He or she will be able to advance the video, pause it, adjust the volume or click through to the advertiser’s site.”
Talking about the new video ads, Gokul Rajaram, product manager for Google AdSense, was keen to emphasise this point: “We are offering a very, very non-intrusive ad product.”
So is this another piece of bad news for TV advertising, now in the doldrums due to the growth of other platforms? It could well be. Even though online ads are said to cost as much (and sometimes more) than slots on traditional TV networks, take up by advertisers is reported to be high.
And though these rates lead to the assumption that this is an opportunity for the big boys only, Google AdSense is claiming otherwise. As well as bigger brands testing out ads before putting them on TV, small players will be able to benefit.
“Now, an owner of a small bed and breakfast in Lake Tahoe can put a video tour of his beautiful chalet right next to an article that talks about skiing the epic slopes of Squaw Valley,” says the company.
Small-town businesses will surely be dusting off their digital camcorders now.
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