YouTube Offers Sponsored Videos

New service allows users to purchase advertising in video search results.

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/13/2008 5:58:00 AM

Looking for new ways to monetize content beyond selling ads through its content partners, YouTube is taking a cue from its parent company Google. The video site has launched a new service, YouTube Sponsored Videos, allowing users to purchase advertising in video search results.

For example, if a small business owner had a YouTube page, and wanted their videos to get more play, they could purchase select keywords and their videos will appear next to the search results (though marked as ads, much as in the Google search engine). The ads are priced on a cost-per-click basis.

The videos are a bold step for YouTube, which thus far has relied primarily on text advertising on most videos, with pre, mid and post-roll on select professionally produced content.

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Interesting, but I think it's too little too late. There are a lot of other video platforms doing more compelling things with adverstising, and I would predict that this move is going to muddy the egalitarian, user-generated feel of YouTube. Google is trying to make this into a big revenue generator, but I don't know if that's really going to pan out.

Norene - 11/13/2008 12:53:00 PM EST

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