While waiting for the second half of the Lakers-Jazz playoff series to start, I spent my time on Youtube - a site I surprisingly don’t spend all that much time on.
“Kobe Bryant” is what I typed into the search box, hoping to find some quality highlights to pass the time. I was disgusted, however, after watching about 30 seconds of Kobe highlight real, a large, intrusive advertisement blindsided me. It literally came out of nowhere. Talk about a wake-up call: Youtube has gone corporate.
From a PR standpoint, it is remarkable that Youtube can maintain its indie, “user generated” image while still courting advertisers to sneak in banner ads across whatever it is someone may be watching. And as if I wasn’t shocked enough about the ad, I was even more taken back that I haven’t heard a steady grumble from Youtube users about all the newish ads that have been popping up on various content on the site. It is not surprising that the ads appeared. But with ads, Youtube loses its flair. I wonder if Google has done any studies or focus groups to understand the impact of ads on youtube users.
I don’t know… I’ve been using YouTube for nearly as long as it has been around and I’m not too surprised that the community hasn’t expressed any outrage. Remember that the front page has habitually been themed with coordinated advertising campaigns and the site is owned by Google, the quintessential New Media / Web 2.0 giant. And Google’s in the business of selling advertising.
If it were Doubleclick behind the YouTube ads, it’d probably be a different story, but it just makes sense for Google to go in this direction. Personally, I don’t mind them any more intrusive than those scrolling ads on Slate or ESPN. Part of the territory, maybe, as Web 2.0 matures into a legitimate arena for business ventures.