San Francisco — In an engaging turn of events, according to the Wall Street Journal, Google owned video sharing website YouTube recently announced that it plans to launch “skippable” ads later this year, senior product manager Baljeet Singh said Tuesday at a Google press conference.
If you are producing or using online video ads then you better make sure they are engaging, YouTube’s advertising model is about to witness a significant change toward more options for ad viewing.
According to the Journal reports that last November, Google’s YouTube began testing a “skip” button for pre-roll ads across a select number of advertisers that will enable you to stop a YouTube video ad from playing a few seconds after it begins and plans are underway to roll out the format later this year. The site will eventually empower you to choose which ads you want to view when you are about to watch a longer video, too, similar to Hulu’s current “tailored ad” experience.
Singh said that the new format will empower users to skip the pre-roll ads that are embedded in videos — and would not charge advertisers for ads that were skipped. He also mentioned that the skipping rates are dramatically diverse based on the quality of the ads. “This is a good sign,” he said, because it will encourage advertisers to invest in compelling ads.
He further stated that YouTube will offer users a choice of the ads they can see within a video, something he said would be more likely in a longer video.
Singh’s observations were part of a luncheon that Google organized at its Chelsea headquarters to discuss its approach toward selling display advertising online. The bulk of Google’s ad sales are related to search advertising.