Surf over to YouTube and you’ll find videos on how to skip ads on some websites, how to skip Hulu commercials, and how to skip commercials on DVR. And today, you may also find some skippable ads on YouTube as well.
YouTube parent Google is launching testing of skippable pre-roll ads on the site, a possible prelude to a new advertising model for the search giant, reports MediaPost. Only a small segment of videos will include the “skip this ad” option, and there's no set end date for the test. The ads run on select videos provided by content partners who have opted in to the test and will help determine “who" might skip the ads rather than what ads are skipped. The test also will record at what point during a video viewers opt to jump over ads and at what point they choose to watch.
Googles’ goal might be to create a new advertising model to replace, or at least augment, pre-roll ads, overlays, and traditional display ads, says MediaPost.
“We’re already down that road with promoted videos,” Phil Farhi, a product manager at Googles’ YouTube, told MediaPost. “We see the ability to skip ads as another form of engagement.”
Testing ad formats is nothing new for the video Goliath, in June it tested a model that let users choose whether to watch a long pre-roll or several shorter instream "commercials" during selected long-form videos.
At the time, Farhi said the test would run for several months and be part of a general ad-testing mix the company was using to attempt to monetize the more than 30 billion videos it streams each month.
"We are constantly testing a wide range of options to find the right advertising format for the right content on YouTube," Farhi said. "And we think giving users a say in the process helps our efforts."
For more:
- see this MediaPost article
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