Every now and then something new and big happens on the internet, and right now may be one of those moments. Google just announced the beta program of their AdSense for Video program (also known as Google Video Advertising Solutions) - and this may mean that a whole new world of opportunities are opening up online (I’ll explain my doubts in a later post). After all, there are about a gazillion unmonetized videos online. If Google is able to figure out how to successfully change that reality it can make a lot of people a lot of money (although not as much as it can make Google).
Think about it for a second - imagine that you don’t have a website, aren’t pitching a product and have no presence whatsoever online. However, you’re a creative fellow who is good with a video camera. Google may have just created a new career for you. Just keep churning out quality videos, upload them to YouTube, monetize them and your set. And this is just one example.
But before we get our hopes up, let’s first understand how Google Video Ads work. We’ll start by looking at Google Video Ads from the advertisers perspective. In particular, we’ll look at Google Videos Ads through Google’s AdWords program (we’ll touch on advertising through YouTube later on).
Google Video Ads vis-a-vis Google AdWords
In the following video, Google addresses a variety of questions that advertisers will want answered before committing to Google Video Ads. Questions such as:
- Why should they get involved in online video advertising?
- What special and/or unique benefits do Google Video Ads offer them?
- On which sites will Google Video Ads be displayed?
- How are Google Video Ads displayed?
Google Video Ads for Advertisers(03:06)
As you can see, there are a variety of Google Video Ads formats to choose from:
- InVideo Ads
- Text Overlay Ads
- Video Ad (i.e, the video itself is the ad)
- Google Gadget Ads
- Ads in the Web-page surround a video
I imagine that the key to succeeding with this program will be learning which types of video ads work best with your product or service as well as the ability to test and track different types of video ad formats and styles.
In other words - success with Google Video Ads will be similar to succeeding with regular Google AdWords Ads - tracking different versions, learning how to properly target your ads, syncing your ads with your landing pages, etc.
As time goes and people start actually using Google Video Ads we’ll be able to learn specific techniques that work (as well as ones that don’t work). Until then, we’ll just have to use our current knowledge of AdWords as a general guideline.
