YouTube officially launched their new InVideo advertising program and the initial feedback within the YouTube community is negative - no suprise there- according to a quick scan of posts on a YouTube blog post.
Typical responses can be summarized by one user’s post “Yuck.” The new InVideo ads start as an overlay on the bottom of a video, and people can click and watch the ad if they want to. If the user does not click on the overlay, the ad will simply disappear.
VideoEgg, ScanScout, and other firms have been offering up similar overlay ads as an alternative to traditional preroll and postroll for awhile now so, uncharacteristically for Google, the move isn’t seen as revolutionary. The big questions are whether these ads will also be used in user-generated videos on YouTube. For now, Google is selling InVideo ad space on professional partner videos for companies Like Warner Music Group and others. And also whether, in the long term, users will seek less ad populated sites and if advertisers will jump on board with the new ad unit in large numbers. Time will tell.
