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YouTube to be revamped for advertisers
LONDON - Google is planning an extensive redesign of YouTube to give advertisers more prominence on the video sharing site, according to industry insiders.
It is understood that millions of video clips on the site will be filtered into four categories. Movies, Music and Shows will be home to premium content from professional producers, while Videos will group together YouTube's archive of user-generated clips.
The redesign will also introduce a new video-player featuring indicators on the red progress bar showing the point at which in-stream ads will play during each clip. The new user interface will also allow users to ‘dim the lights' on the screen surrounding the video player to enhance the viewing experience.
According to ClickZ, the new-look YouTube will go live in mid-April. Google has been pitching launch packages to agencies for the past six weeks, in the hope to get big brand advertisers signed up for launch.
A spokesman for Google refused to comment.
The redesign marks Google's latest attempt to generate revenue from YouTube, which it acquired in 2006 for $165 billion (£970m). As well as ramping up the site's ad offering, Google recently announced plans to allow users to pay to download video content to their desktop or MP3 player. It is also introducing a ‘click-to-buy' e-commerce service that will allow users to purchase products that appear in video clips.
Separately, Google is also believed to be negotiating a licensing deal with Disney, which will see clips from ESPN and ABC made available on the site. The partnership will see Disney and Google share revenue, with Disney making in-stream ad inventory available for YouTube to sell.
YouTube recorded a 17 per cent year-on-year increase in users in January 2009, clocking up 23.5 million viewers, according to the latest figures from comScore.
Clips like Cadbury's 'Eyebrows' ad to be categorised
Comments
Kit Desai - 06/04/2009
The Youtube revamp makes for interesting reading and is a positive step forward for the site. Historically online video has consisted of semi-professional and mostly user generated content, so it's with little wonder that viewers have been less than impressed with the video advertising and take little notice. However – the market is changing rapidly. Growth of premium content sites are changing the type of video advertising coming online and user willingness to view and engage with it. Video sites such as ADTECH customer Hulu are now the No. 2 video site in the U.S. behind YouTube, and the biggest purveyor of professional video on the web. With 309 million video views, Hulu has now shot ahead of Yahoo and MySpace. The joint NBC Universal and News Corp venture is demonstrating the growing power of TV content on the web. For the UK market, widespread adoption is fast approaching but there is still a lot of ground work to be done. It's more complex than simply replicating the existing TV / video model on the web. When developing a platform you need to know your audience well - their preferences and style. A poorly designed platform could alienate viewers and hinder the growth and take-up. You need to produce a format with ads that work online and give the viewer flexibility. Web audiences are more sophisticated in their programme usage than traditional television/video viewers and have high expectations of the options made available to them. The last thing we want to do is give viewers a bad or irritating experience and risk them not returning. Publishers must be clever in their approach and be able to decide which ads a viewer can see and when so that they're not subjected to the same one over and over again for example. Creating a customised playlist is also a good idea with a balance of content versus advertising. There must be an element of viewer interaction and a call to action – bear in mind the web savvy user is used to being part of an Internet "community" and expects to be treated as such. It's too easy to simply transpose existing models for online usage – and it won't serve you or viewers well in the long run. Users accept the need to watch ads in order to get free online premium \(no different than the acceptance of TV ads, except online video ads are much more measureable). Prospects for online video growth could be damaged if publishers don't prepare their model carefully and make it fit for purpose. Get it right though, and the rewards are great – and accountable! - Kit Desai, Country Manager, ADTECH UK and Ireland.