AdSense Upgrade Could Speed Growth Of Online Video Ads

The option for advertisers to show video ads on Google's AdSense content network--which the search giant quietly announced late Monday night on the Inside AdSense blog--could encourage the growth of online video advertising by creating new channels of distribution, as well as allowing smaller-budget ad buyers to get into the video game.

Growth estimates for online video--eMarketer put online video spending at $640 million in 2007, up from $225 million in 2005--could now be lowballs because of the market that Google will bring to the space, eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey said. "This opens up distribution for them," he said. "It could very well make our estimates of the online video ad market conservative."

Ramsey said it's likely that now that Google is allowing video ads on its content network, Yahoo will likely soon do the same on the Yahoo Publisher Network, and MSN will likely include the feature in their upcoming adCenter content network. "I think it's inevitable, as soon as one person does it," he said. "Nobody can play in this game without keeping up with what everyone else is doing."

David Berkowitz, director of strategic planning for search engine marketing firm 360i, said that the do-it-yourself, auction-based format could allow advertisers who have been blocked from buying video advertising to do so. "There's such a low barrier to entry, and so anyone can participate," he said. "For a local advertiser who might want to repurpose a local TV campaign, this could very well present their first foray into online video advertising."

Berkowitz said that 360i had been receiving inquiries from its clients as early as Tuesday morning--hours after the announcement was made, about getting video into the content network. "It's one of those things that we'll definitely look at in terms of how it fits into the rest of their campaigns," he said. "It's definitely something that our clients will be asking about, and already first thing this morning, we've been educating them about it."

Google itself stressed the accessibility of AdSense video ads on the Inside AdSense blog. "But, you may say, video is only for big branding oriented advertisers," wrote one of the posters on the blog. "We beg to differ. This feature makes video ads much more accessible to all advertisers. 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."

The video ads will compete in the AdWords auction against static image ads and text placements, and can be bid on using either CPC or CPM billing. The video ads do not play until users click on them, and are currently only available to advertisers in the United States, Canada, and Japan.

Google did not return further calls for comment.

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