Could huge banner ads on the YouTube homepage be the solution for Google’s lack of monetizing strategy for the site? No, but it’s a good start.
Google has been struggling to work out a strategy for making YouTube more profitable over the past few months.
It probably actually started way before that, but the last few months have seen the efforts attract public scrutiny.
Traffic = Revenue?
While YouTube is one of the most trafficked websites on the Internet and by far the biggest Web video site, traffic doesn’t necessarily equal revenue.
One of the main problems Google has with monetizing YouTube is that user generated content, the videos people upload showing their pets doing strange things, or their kids dancing, can’t have adverts added to them.
Viacom Fears
This is over the fears that the Viacom lawsuit has brought up concerning copyrighted material being made available on the site. It’s one thing to let some infringing material make it on the site, but another thing entirely to then make money from it.
So Google is instead focussing on the areas where they can make strides in terms of revenue generating. That includes long form content such as No End In Sight, and through deals with media companies.
Banner Ads On Homepage
And now, according to Silicon Alley Insider, the YouTube homepage is about to get a makeover, part of which will be the inclusion of some humongous banner adverts.
The banner ads could take up the whole width of the page and take a similar form to the Pineapple Express adverts that Sony paid a premium for during August.
High Definition Video
The advertising unit will be designed to accommodate high definition video, and include multiple tabs that can be activated when rolled over by a cursor.
Prices for the unit will start at $200,000 a day, but those rates look set to be bumped up before the year is out if they prove to be popular with entertainment companies pushing their latest releases.
Conclusions
While this may be a great way of making some much-needed revenue, YouTube still has a problem in that the majority of visitors don’t ever make it to the homepage, instead watching embeds or following links to individual videos.
This should be viewed as just the beginning of how YouTube is going to changed significantly in the future to enable Google to claw some of its $1.65 investment back. It’s started, but where will it end?
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