Google to tap YouTube for advertisements

To launch a service to let sites in its ad network to use Youtube videos

Miguel Helft
SAN FRANCISCO: Google is taking the first steps toward turning its powerful advertising network, which places ads on hundreds of thousands of Internet sites, into a system for distributing content — and more ads — across the Web.

The Internet search giant is expected to introduce a service on Tuesday to allow websites in its ad network to embed relevant videos from some YouTube content creators.

A Web site or blog specialising in hiking, for instance, might choose to embed hiking videos from YouTube.

The service, which represents the first major combination of a Google product with YouTube, will give video creators wide distribution beyond YouTube via Google’s network, known as AdSense.

Since the videos will be surrounded by ads, the service is another way for Google to cash in on the huge number of video clips stored on YouTube.

Several other networks distribute videos and ads on the Web, but none reach as many websites as AdSense.

Google said it would share revenue from the ads with the creators of the videos and with the Web sites that embed them, though it declined to specify what percentage of the revenue will be kept by each party.

“We are creating incremental distribution for our content providers,” said Christian Oestlien, product manager for AdSense. Oestlien said the system would also allow publishers to make their Web sites more compelling and would give advertisers a new way to reach customers.

While many Web sites already embed YouTube clips in their pages, this system would allow them to make money from the clips. They would not, however, have the same level of control over what clip gets embedded.

For now, the system’s scope, and its potential to deliver new revenue to Google, is limited, because only about 100 media companies that have created YouTube videos will be participating.

Google declined to give a full list of participants, but of those it listed, none were large media companies. They include Expert Village, a producer of how-to videos; Ford Models, a modeling agency; and Extreme Elements, which creates videos about extreme sports.

Over time, Google expects to use AdSense to syndicate other types of content besides video, the company said. Other similar attempts to syndicate video, however, suggest that success is not assured for Google’s new service.

For instance, the video technology start-up Brightcove, which has been syndicating videos from various media companies since early last year, said that the adoption of its service had been largely limited to small websites.

“Any website that is medium to large typically doesn’t want arbitrary content showing up,” said Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove’s chief executive. 

“The sites that take it are typically very small sites with limited traffic.”