It’s a bit of a catch-22 of sorts. Ads suck, but when someone buys YouTube for $1.76 billion (and happens to be King of Ads), you can expect some advertising to come along with that pricetag. The good news is, though, that unlike many video providers, which air 15 or 30 second ads before the clip called pre-rolls, YouTube will be experimenting with “overlay ads” which will be displayed in the lower portion of the screen for 10 seconds. Think “major TV network semi-transparent logo” on your favorite TV show. Or how about everything Fox whores themselves out for does. The difference, of course, is that these overlays are clickable, even pausing the video in question should you want to know more about the sponsor. The best part, you ask? Revenue is actually going to be split with the video’s owner, who will also have control over the amount of ad content (even weeding out sponsors it doesn’t want advertised) shown on their videos. Of course, it’s also based on how much your video is viewed…so get crackin’!
