Sponsored Videos on YouTube

November 13th, 2008

The day has come! Advertisers are now able to post sponsored videos on YouTube and it holds many of the same attributes as Google Ads.

Operates on a CPC bidding model.
Video is triggered by designated keywords.
Promotion text has the same character limits as Google ads (25, 35, 35).

Here’s a great video demonstrating how to create ads and also how they are displayed.

Google search ads have a tendency to be used heavily (or solely) by direct marketers and are not really applicable for aspiring artists and the like. However, YouTube ads provide the starving artist an outlet for greater visibility and comfort in knowing their video will be seen. The trick is, they need to be able to afford it. Will the garage band down the street use YouTube ads? Will YouTube ads become viral or will the community view them as sellouts (no pun intended)? My guess is the garage band sticks to their MySpace page, and YouTube ads stay that way, as ads.