"Ad agencies should shoot for online and TV at the same time and use outtakes and funny bloopers" for the online ads, said Gokul Rajaram, a product manager at Google AdSense.
Eventually, video ads will be targeted to the behavior of the Web surfer. For instance, a consumer who searches for used cars on a classifieds Web site but then goes to read a news site can be served up video ads for cars on that latter page.
What's Google up to?Google offers so-called click-to-play video ads where an advertiser can provide Google a static ad image and some related video and Google will create a video ad that will appear on its AdSense Web site partners who choose to host video ads, Rajaram said. "We are only going to use user-initiated video in banner ads," he said.
Google is testing post-roll and mid-roll video ads on some of its premium content on Google Video that viewers otherwise would be charged for. Viewers can see on a streaming bar where in the clip the ad will show and they can skip it, in which case the advertiser does not get charged, Rajaram said. Viewers can also post comments about the video or the ads, which tend to run 15 seconds. The ads are contextually targeted, like Google's text-based ads, so, for example, a sports ad runs with sports-related video content.
The company also is testing interactivity features in its online video ads, Rajaram said. "It's a way of getting users more engaged," he said. "We are starting to look at all kinds of things to improve the interactivity."
Google conducted a test with MTV video content in which Google packaged MTV shows with related advertising for some of its AdSense Web publisher partners. The ads played in the middle of the clip. Google will have a similar ad distribution offering widely available early next year, Rajaram said.
Meanwhile, Google is mum on exactly how it plans to make money off the viewers that go to the popular YouTube site.
Is there room for start-ups in this growing business?Sure. Turn Here, a start-up in Emeryville, Calif., will create 45-second to 2-minute spots for small and large businesses, for example. The company charges local businesses US$300 to produce small, relatively uncomplicated videos. Larger clients who want more complex shoots, such as the Intercontinental Hotel chain, pay more, but they still pay a lot less than they would traditionally, said CEO Brad Inman. Turn Here's commercials are largely documentaries of the business doing the advertising. What's the market potential for online video ads?
While video ad spending is predicted to reach US$775 million next year, from US$410 million this year, it still only represents 4.2 percent of all online ad sales in the U.S., according to eMarketer.
"Video advertising will grow faster than even paid search," said David Hallerman, a senior analyst at eMarketer. Eventually, video ads will even be accessible via search engines, he said.
"The potential for the use of video for advertising online," Hallerman added, "goes far beyond the effectiveness, if not dollars, spent on television because of all of the interactive ways it can be woven in."
CNET News.com reporter Michael Kanellos contributed to this article.
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