San Francisco — Google owned popular video-sharing site YouTube, earlier this week unfurled a “sweet spot” a unique option that allows viewers to pick their own ads rather than viewing lengthy ads before uninterrupted videos or having brief ads mixed with viewing experiences, in an attempt to generate more revenue from the popular video site.
A small-scale experiment is in progress that empowers viewers the option to select adverts from the beginning of clips to the middle. Those opting to watch the advert at the start will be rewarded by getting to choose which advert they see.
“Users will have the choice of watching either one Promoted Video at the outset or a few in-stream ads throughout. Users who choose the Promoted Video option will also get to decide which video to watch,” said product manager Phil Farhi in a blog post.
The test comes as Google continuously exploring ways to make more money from globally popular video-sharing website YouTube, which it bought three years ago in a 1.65-billion-dollar stock deal.
"Today, we began a small test that will allow users more control over how they watch advertising on YouTube,” Farhi said in a message posted on the California firm’s official business blog.
“We are constantly experimenting with a wide range of options to seek the right advertising format for the right content on YouTube, and we think giving users a say in the process helps our efforts,” he added.
Users will be able to select between viewing a single pre-roll ad (normally runs for 30 seconds or longer) or up to four commercial breaks (each of at least 15 seconds each) within a given clip. If they go with the pre-roll, there is also a choice between two different ads.
YouTube’s Farhi emphasized that courting viewers’ opinions would help the company “find the right advertising formats;” the brands themselves would also benefit if YouTube ends up providing real-time data on which ads most users were volunteering to watch.
YouTube initially began displaying adverts in August 2007, opting for transparent overlays rather than clips that had to be watched before a video begun. However, the company has since introduced pre-roll advertising as well.
As it is just a test, the option will only show up for certain viewers; the choose your own ads are also only running against premium, long-form content (like the pictured episode of Alf).
(Credit: YouTube), click to enlarge…
The self-selected ad test is being carried out on a small percentage of videos, according to Farhi. YouTube rival Hulu has been dabbling with a similar advertising format.
Last year Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that making money from YouTube was a top prioirity. The company has so far drained its energy to turn a profit from the site, despite huge levels of traffic.
Reports at the end of 2008 suggested that mainstream music labels were earning “tens of millions of dollars” from adverts running alongside music videos on YouTube.