Google Video Web Ads – Google AdWords to launch Video Pay Per Click Ads
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 Loading ... Posted by: Scott: Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006 |  

The writing was on the wall when Google extended its partnership with AOL months ago. Then, they talked about logos in the search results pages. Now, they’re talking about video. These “vPPC” ads will not appear in the search results pages, however, at least not for now. They will appear on the websites of Google’s content partners who display ads via the Google AdSense program.

It was only a matter of time. Computers are getting faster, broadband is getting broader, and paradigms are shifting at Internet speed. Thanks to portals like Yahoo and others, users are now more and more comfortable with video loading “on load.” Video is not as desruptive to the browsing experience as it was only a few short years ago. Initially, videos will be click-to-play.

So why is this big news for advertisers? Well, for larger advertisers, vPPC (how i’ll refer to these ads) offers a grand new opportunity for branding and visibility extension. You can do more with videos and the traditional television commercial format than you can with simple text ads. These videos will be used to launch products, promote events, and will open up a new industry of developing Internet-only video advertisements.

Combine vPPC with the new ability to target demographics in Google and MSN, and you have an even more powerful channel for advertisers to promote their brands, products and services. Add in the power of MySpace, with 80 million users, and you have an even more fertile ground for advertisers to get their messages across to their target audiences. The combination of MySpace and Google (assuming Google beats MSN for the MySpace deal) will truly enable advertisers to market to their customers where they hang out.

Here are the details from the AdWords blog:

First, as with all AdWords ad formats, video ads will compete for placement on sites in the Google content network with other text, Flash and image ads — and, as with our other image ad placements, you can choose to bid on a CPC or CPM basis.

Second, these ads will be supported by both site- and keyword-targeted campaigns. You can choose to serve your video ad on a specific site or on pages in our content network that relate to your product or service. As always, you have the ability to geo-target your video ads internationally, nationally, or locally.

Finally, 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, as you can see in the example below:

Sarah, the Googler, closes by saying:

But, you may say, video is only for big branding oriented advertisers. We beg to differ. This feature makes video ads much more accessible to all advertisers. Now, an owner of a small bed & 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.

I guess she’s right, but it will probably cost big-bucks to produce vPPC ads with high production value. I just don’t think small firms will be able to match bucks with larger firms who have more invested in producing higher quality videos.

Interesting development.