YouTube Starts To Deliver In-Video Advertisements

While it was nice to consider the remote possibility that advertisements embedded into YouTube’s videos would never make it out of the video host’s R&D department, such thoughts can now officially be put to rest. In an experiment that in all likelihood will turn into a permanent presence on the media site, the company has now begun to display overlaid advertisements, shown inside a 20% sliver of real estate at the bottom of the video window. (View a sample here.)

The number of videos which bear advertisements at this point is limited, but it’s presumed that the trial will slowly but steadily grow to become a widespread presence on the website.

Google, the natural sole purveyor of advertising for YouTube, has been screening this new in-video format for some weeks, and the company is only now letting it be known its plans for the expansion of the system. According to a New York Times report on the announcement, the company (Google) stated that "after months of testing various video advertising models, it was ready to introduce a new type of video ad, which it said was unobtrusive and kept users in control of what they saw."

After seeing an ad or two myself in the format officially debuted today, I must say, “unobtrusive” is a term I think I can agree to. The standard size of a YouTube video window is small, without a doubt. There’s only so much space to fit content within, and so every pixel is sort of, well, precious. Google seems to understand that point well, and has ensured that the new advertising scheme doesn’t distract. At least not more than it absolutely has to.

No annoying, flashing banners to be seen. Just relatively simple spots that appear roughly 15 seconds into the playback of a clip and remain present (unless eliminated via the viewer’s input) for about 10 seconds.

One would of course always opt for no ads, particularly as the average individual is bombarded by billboards big and small nonstop throughout one’s journeys, whether in the physical world or the digital. But because sites like YouTube are headed in the direction of embedded advertising to ensure that video hosts themselves have business models which enable them to stay afloat, it’s good to see that one of the largest in the industry has spent a considerable amount of time trying to perfect the new method the best it can. Changes will undoubtedly come down the line, but as of this moment, I can’t say the embedded format is a terrible addition for YouTube to have put in place. Only a very small percentage of YouTube’s viewership will find it unbearable. As wonderful as it would be to make everyone happy, Google, like any company, need only worry about keeping the great majority of YouTube users satisfied, which I’m certain it will manage to do.