Google Ads Go Video

Is this good or bad?

Thursday, January 25, 2007 by Zoomba | Discussion: WinCustomize News

Here at WinCustomize, we rely heavily on Google's AdSense program to help support the site and offset costs.  They do much better than the older style of ads which were image or animation based pieces that were distributed to a wide variety of sites, with no concern for site content.  Google ads take content off the page to figure out the most relevant advertisements to display.  The results are advertisements that might actually be worthwhile to users who view the site.  The most widely recognized Google Ad is the text advertisement:

Banner
This is an example image and NOT AN ACTUAL AD

Recently though, Google has branched out to include image ads as well.  You probably don't notice these as being Google Ads since they look more or less like any other banner ad you've seen on the web for nearly a decade now.  Aside from a thin string at the bottom of the banner saying "Ads by Google", there's nothing to visually differentiate them.

Now though, Google is expanding into the realm of video-based advertisements.  You've seen these on sites like CNet News, CNN.com etc.  The most widely viewed is probably the Mac v PC ads from Apple.  They usually show the first frame or play a few seconds of the video without sound until clicked on by the user.  As Google expands the ad service, they've picked a few high-profile sites to participate in the pilot program.  Now, sites such as The Wall Street Journal online, Life/Style Television, Epicurious.com and Style.com will begin carrying these video ads soon.

Video ads are the "next big thing" in online advertising.  Are they annoying?  Better or worse than current ad units?  Can Google do it better than others?

Bebi Bulma
Reply #1 Thursday, January 25, 2007 6:08 PM
Are they annoying? Absofreakinglutely. Thank the stars for Adblock.
WebGizmos
Reply #2 Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:46 PM
Google can do much better than others....get rid of them all together, I honestly don't see what the point is with ads...I never click on any of them.
Sea Hourse
Reply #3 Thursday, January 25, 2007 11:01 PM
"Are they annoying?"

All ads are annoying and these types are getting progessively worse. Yahoo has been running some extremely bothersome ads within their site which begin playing an audio track. Talk about a pain. I visit one of their international sites and these kind of ads are now throughout the site. And to make sure that you get the point they are combining them with overlay ads that cover up whatever you really want to see. And there is no way to shut these things down either. You are forced to both watch and listen to the ad. My ad blockers cannot stop these things.

In all seriousness if I were ever on a jury dealing with a defendant who killed someone involved with creating or placing these ads I would vote to acquit.
WebGizmos
Reply #4 Saturday, January 27, 2007 8:18 AM
I especially love the extremely annoying Buzzing bee ads....the thing never stops buzzing...who ever puts that on a website is just going to chase people away.
Blueweb
Reply #5 Tuesday, January 30, 2007 8:48 AM
Seriously who clicks on ads anymore?
Besides n00bs.

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