Google’s AdSense for video program, whose public beta version was launched last February 21st on the blog InsideAdsense, uses two less intrusive formats of advertising, InVideo and text overlay ads.  The standardization of both could, in time, bring a preference of a less intrusive and more efficient kind of advertising as opposed to other forms such as pre-roll and post-roll.

Online advertising has imposed itself in a decisive manner in the last two years, as shown in the data report published by IAB, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, and by PwC, PricewaterhouseCooper. According to the report,  in 2006, the proceeds from advertising on the internet in the USA reached 16.9 billion dollars, a 35% increase since 2005 and in 2007 it exceeded 21 billion dollars, an increase of  25% from the year before.

It is impossible for internet companies, advertisers and editors to ignore online advertising and therefore, in recent years various online advertising formats have been developed such as pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, overlay and on demand ads.

Google’s line of conduct in the advertising sector has always been precise, aiming towards fundamental characteristics to balance the users experience, the activity of the online content  editors and the advertisers.  The company’s top priority has always been to satisfy the user’s needs offering less intrusive formats that respond to the user’s actual requirements.

The AdSense for video program continues to follow this advertising policy and chooses formats such as InVideo as seen on You Tube and text overly ads, ensuring that the user does not feel overwhelmed by video publicity ads and is not disturbed during the vision of specific contents.  The InVideos work like this: the video which is being watched stops and a smaller window, containing an advertising video, opens and can be closed at any moment by the user allowing him to return to the original video.  A text ad appears in the form of a banner, when it is clicked by the user he is redirected to the advertisers web site.
On the InsideAdsense blog the advertiser can find the payment information for their choice of either InVideo or overlay ads: the first requires a CMP (cost per thousand impressions) payment, while the overlay ads are paid through CPC (cost per click) and allow only editors, in the United States with sites in English.that provide one million video streams per year, to try out the beta version of AdSense for video.

With AdSense for video ,Google would then be the  leader of the  online advertising market, standardizing its advertising formats.

But every cloud has a silver lining. By pursuing its politically correct line of conduct in online advertising, Google takes a stand against  pre-roll and post-roll formats, bothconsidered intrusive and not suitable for the web.  This attitude may very well favour users that do not want to give in to intrusive advertising and help advertisers to whom more efficient methods of advertising can  be offered.

Simona Fiore
Magazine Editorial Staff

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