Hoping to earn more from the burgeoning online video market, Mountain View, California-based Internet search  and media giant Google has broadened its online advertising service to include two types of display ads for viewing within Web videos, with the introduction of its AdSense for Video project announced in a limited test form Thursday. Agreements with some 20 high-profile partner Web companies including Brightcove and YuMe, that will allow Google to sell the new ads on third-party sites throughout the Web where it doesn't host or create its own videos, were also announced. Exploding Online Video Segment Of the $20 billion spent each year on Internet advertising in the United States, only a relatively small amount is presently used to buy Web video ads, with the large majority of Google's 2007 $16.6 billion ad sale revenue coming from sales of small text-based ads shown alongside search results and on its ad network. The project announced Thursday aims to change that, by using Google's popular and sizable advertising network, widely believed to contain hundreds of thousands of Web sites and most online advertisers, to earn more from the rapidly-growing online video phenomenon. AdSense for Video will also help online publishers in the new network earn more from their video content, Google said. "This allows us to become a one-stop shop for people interested in in-video advertising,” said Christian  Oestlien, a product manager at Google. Presently the project will be available only in the U.S. and to Web sites streaming a minimum of one million videos each month, Google AdSense's Ryan Hayward and Lilly Wolfson wrote on the company blog. "This enables advertisers to run a single campaign across the largest network of online video content,” Hayward and Wolfson added. Over the past two years Google has expanded its advertising ambitions to include such traditional media as radio, television and newspapers, along with several new ad formats for mobile devices and the Web, but has yet to see any of them bring in strong revenue, according to the firm's annual report filed last week. Google's AdWords for TV program sells advertising on satellite and cable television. Video or Text Ads Within Web Videos The two types of overlay video ads being offered by Google AdSense for Video have gained popularity over so-called "pre-roll" ads, which play before a viewer is able to watch their selected video, and are considered by some to be a less intrusive alternative. The Google project offers advertisers two types of ads that will be overlaid on small sections of online video players, including both inline video banner and text "overlay" ads. Relevant text-on-video ads will be displayed based on both the type of video being played and the Web site displaying the video, and will rotate every 20 seconds, according to Google. The animated and graphical ads will display on the bottom 20 percent of those videos chosen to take part in  the new Google program, and will be sold based on the number of impressions, while the text overlay ads will be sold by the number of clicks received. In 2006 Google purchased YouTube, the world's largest video sharing Web site, for $1.65 billion, and has since sought to make money from the acquisition. In August Google brought video overlay ads to YouTube, which served as a test for the project announced Thursday, and according to Oestlien, advertisers will be able to simultaneously display ads on both YouTube and Google's partner network. Brightcove and YuMe Among Rollout Partners Among the 20 or so initial AdSense for Video partners are video aggregator Web sites and technology companies, including the following firms:  | Revver | | Blip.tv | | | Brightcove | | YuMe | | | BobVila.com | | Tremor Media | | | My Damn Channel | | ExpertVillage | | | PinkBike | | TheNewsRoom | | | GodTube | | Eyespot Network | Redwood City, California-based YuMe is a dedicated online video advertising network with over 150 million video streams on more than 400 Web sites. Chief executive Jayant Kadambi sees a partnership with Google as a good way to make money from YuMe's video content. "Being part of Google’s AdSense for Video beta provides our publishers with a powerful new avenue for realizing the full revenue potential of their video inventory,” Kadambi said in a statement. Brightcove's director of ad product management Chris Johnston also expressed enthusiasm for the Google AdSense for Video project. "Video and rich media continue to account for an increasingly large segment of online content - Brightcove customers alone reach 130 million unique users a month across thousands of Web sites,” Johnston said in a statement. Rival online video advertising networks such as those of start-up VideoEgg will face competition from the new Google venture, as will Yahoo and Microsoft while the two vie for control of Yahoo amidst Microsoft's hostile takeover bid. Yahoo acquired online video distribution firm Maven Networks last week for $160 million, a network used by several large publishers including Gannett, CBS Sports and Fox News. Google Broadens AdSense Online Video Display Ad Network Of the $7.3 billion spent in the U.S. last quarter on Web advertising, nearly a quarter came from Google, according to a recent study by market research group IDC. By 2011 overall online video spending is expected to jump from $1.4 billion this year to $4.3 billion, according to research by eMarketer. Google's long-awaited entry into the online video advertising space with its AdSense for Video project could provide a boost for a segment already experiencing explosive growth. Related Links:
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10:02 pm on Feb. 21, 2008 (utc 0)