YouTube Debuts Super Bowl XLVIII Ads

YouTube launched the Ad Blitz channel Friday, giving football fans a sneak peek of this year's Super Bowl XLVIII ads.

The pre-game gallery features teasers from advertisers, highlights and analysis from Fox Sports about teams on the road to the championship. YouTube creators will post custom content, promoting Ad Blitz through videos powered by TrueView video ads. The site also provides post-game voting.

More than half of the Super Bowl advertisers last year used YouTube as a platform to launch their Super Bowl campaigns early. Google ramped up its game using technology to expand on features. YouTube created something it calls hashtag search -- the ability to search for keywords with hashtags on Google, similar to the way site visitors might use the symbol on Twitter.

The site also offers a Multi-Screen Toss & Catch Game where viewers can sync their mobile devices and challenge friends to a game of catch. The Toss to Vote game allows viewers to aim and toss a football using their smartphone to cast a vote for their favorite spot. Viewers also can create custom GIF animations from their commercial highlights and share across their social network.

While we're still weeks away from seeing the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots battle it out, Suzie Reider, YouTube managing director of global brand solutions, said there are more than half a dozen teasers on YouTube. Digital has become the first stop for brands, not an afterthought.

In fact, fans watched more than 3.2 million hours of Super Bowl ads -- equivalent to 800,000 game day broadcasts -- on YouTube in 2013. The Super Bowl commercials were viewed more than 265 million times on YouTube in 2013. Game day commercials released on YouTube before they aired during the game drove approximately 3.4 times more views on average, compared with commercials released on game day.

Video views of Super Bowl ads released on YouTube in 2013 grew at least 2.6 times compared with 2012. Last year, viewers watched Super Bowl ads more than 80 million times on YouTube before game day.

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