Now that Bing is officially a major player, it’s time to ask some important questions. Are Bing video search results delivering a winning performance? Does Bing match searcher queries with relevant results? For advertisers, what is needed from an optimization standpoint to make your video standout among a search crowd?

Let’s use the popular music group “Black Eyed Peas” as an example. After conducting a series of different searches with the band name being the basis of the query I observed the following:

Query 1: black eyed peas. Images of the band were among the top positions, while the video results were at the bottom of the search results page along with a search volume/popularity graph, which is something new and different to the search world. I’ve yet to determine the full impact/effectiveness of the search popularity graph. If anything, the graph can reveal and/or validate the popularity of a searcher’s query and show other popular musicians Bing users are searching for(e.g., Metallica). However, when clicked through, this option only offers a video link on the sidebar, not a video thumbnail on the main page, which in my opinion is a shortfall, given the online video demand as well as the musical nature of the query. This is another opportunity to connect with the proactive video-seeking audience.

Query 2: videos black eyed peas. The video results were the last listing on the first page of the search engine results page.

Queries 3 and 4: black eyed video peas and black video eyed peas. The first page of results did not deliver any inline Bing video results for either query, though there were text-only links to videos on YouTube and other video sharing sites.

Query 5: black eyed peas video. Inline Bing video results were in the top position.

Now what can we learn from this small example? Also, does this example apply to other types of queries? Well, it appears that Bing delivers top ranking video results based on an intuitive, logical query structure. For example, the keyword “video” delivers high ranking at the end of a query vs. at the beginning or in the middle of a query. I performed similar tests with other types of keywords, not just music-oriented keywords, such as “Chicago Bears” and “Apple iPhone,” and had a similar experience.

However, the logic is only one observation; it also seems that the keyword density of the terms also play a key role in the ranking. In the listing above, all of the MySpace videos include “black eyed peas” and “video” (twice) in their title tags.

Using GoRank, a free SEO tool, you can analyze the keyword density for these terms within the MySpace URLS, and discover that the word “video” has an average density of 3.74% and the phrase “black eyed” has an average density of 3.21%.

These are solid percentages that indicate Bing places a great deal of value on the words appearing on the page. Therefore, advertisers should ensure that they are including valuable content within their title tags, descriptions, etc.

On the other hand, the YouTube page does not contain any instances of the word “video”, but the phrase “black eyed” has a density of 14.17%. This is due to YouTube’s practice of showing links to related videos, and all of these links contain the phrase “black eyed.” Bing may give YouTube default visibility for search queries that contain the word “video” even if the word “video” does not appear on the YouTube page.

Another interesting thing to note about Bing video search results is that once you click on a video thumbnail result you may have a different experience depending on the source. For example, the “Black Eyed Peas” YouTube video opens a pop-up video while the MySpace video is played directly from Bing. By using pop-ups and hosting other videos, Bing encourages the searcher to stay on the Bing site, an attempt to increase retention rate and further interactions with Bing. Additionally, Bing allows a searcher to play video snippets directly from the search results, which is another way to entice searchers and encourage more interaction.

As announced this past July, Bing and Yahoo! are joining forces in the search world. After the deal finalizes, Microsoft’s MSNbot (showing up in referrer logs as either msnbot/1.1 or msnbot/2.0b) will be the crawler for both Yahoo! and Bing. This means it will be doubly important for advertisers to optimize their video assets for the bot and Bing’s search algorithm. According to comScore’s September 2009 U.S. core search engine rankings, Microsoft sites make up 9.4% of search engine share, while Yahoo! makes up 18.8%. Once these search houses consolidate under the same technology, they will make up nearly 30% of the search share, taking on powerhouse Google, (64.9% of search engine share). It’s up to Bing to prove to searchers, specifically the rising pool of video searchers, if it has what it takes to deliver the most relevant, useful results that can stack up against Google.

I want my, I want my, I want my OMV (Online Music Video)… Yes, that’s right! Popular music videos are about to make a comeback, not on the original music TV station per se, but on the most popular online video web site, YouTube. With just a quick query search and a click of the mouse, you will have the opportunity to view and listen to musical legends such as The Eagles or ever-evolving artists such as Coldplay and Madonna.

As of September 29, 2009, Warner Music Group announced that they struck a deal with YouTube to ultimately bring its artists back to YouTube’s massive online video market. In August, YouTube accounted for nearly 10 billion of the 25 billion viewed online videos, according to ComScore. Google sites, primarily YouTube, currently represent 40 percent of all videos viewed online.

This deal is another example of how powerful the internet can be as a distribution medium. Similar to well-established newspapers and television companies, the music industry has been forced to change its business model that has existed for decades. As Warner Music Group quickly discovered, their historical model was not the perfect fit for the internet, nor was it capitalizing on the full benefits.

For example, Warner Music Group’s previously strict copyright laws required approval before allowing any use of its videos or songs in movies or on radio and TV. Last year, they demanded that YouTube pull down its videos based on licensing disagreements. As we all know, the internet makes it very easy to copy and re-distribute information. The public can literally post a copy of a video at any time and under any name. To ensure that the copyrighted Warner Music Group videos were not appearing on YouTube, I would assume both companies had to invest considerable resources to monitor and remove videos as they appear on YouTube’s site.

By allowing YouTube to post Warner Music Group’s videos, not only will it free up time and costs, but it will also open the door to the enormous, growing online video market. In August, comScore reported 161 million U.S. internet users watched online video during the month, the largest audience ever recorded (81.6 percent of the total U.S. internet audience viewed online video). This is not only a large audience but a highly active and engaged audience, watching nearly 10 hours of video in the month of August alone.

Warner Music Group’s partnership with YouTube will enable more innovative ways to market their industry. For example, YouTube offers viewers the ability to buy a song directly from an artist’s music video. The YouTube music videos have a small, unobtrusive pop-up advertisement at the bottom of the screen as shown below.

This simple method of purchasing music on YouTube is a big deal in itself. The question web users may want to consider right now is the true value of this quick and easy purchase– would it be worth it for a user to spend hours searching various sites for a copy of an MP3 to download that could be at risk of being illegal, or would it be easier to just click a button on YouTube and spend $1.29 to immediately obtain a compliant copy of the MP3? This addition should make YouTube even more attractive to music distributors, such as Warner Music Group, as more and more people decide that the choice for immediate and legal music is the best option.

As evident in the increased growth and demand for online videos, the audiences have spoken loud and clear, “they want their online music video (OMV)!” It’s now time for Warner Music Group to turn up the volume and deliver its artists’ music videos to their adoring fans.

Imagine if you could click on a video and instantly watch it play without clicking through the annoying pop-ups that require you to download the latest plug-in, such as Adobe Flash. Even better, what if you could watch this instantaneous video in the palm of your hand without any unforeseen complications? This sounds like a dream come true not only for the user but also for savvy advertisers who are continually trying to entice their target audience.

Fortunately, it’s not a dream: it’s HTML 5. HTML 5 is the proposed next iteration of the prevailing language of web sites. Modern browsers such as Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari—as well as most mobile browsers using webKit—currently understand this language. One of the key purposes of HTML 5 is to promote universality across online web applications, rendering plug-ins like Adobe Flash irrelevant.

HTML 5 opens the door to easier video streaming, particularly on mobile platforms. Most of these platforms have browsers that cannot support video codecs and plug-ins (e.g., iPhone does not support Flash). This inability creates a large roadblock between advertisers and their potential buyers. By simply using <video> and <audio> elements as part of HTML 5, web site designers can embed videos and audio files into web sites without worrying about a particular platform’s video rendering capabilities.

Additionally, the video element of HTML 5 has an extensive API (application programming interface) which creates opportunities for using scripts to design the playback and control interface of the video (e.g., complements the web site’s aesthetics). These enhanced capabilities offer the ideal video experience for mobile users, which will in turn open the floodgate to advertisers who leverage video for their marketing initiatives.

The one challenge advertisers may face with HTML 5 is the fact that, unlike early adopters who will usually browse with the latest releases, the majority of users, particularly desktop users, do not update their browsers in a timely manner. The different adoption rates present a problem for advertisers who are using the new markup language for their video advertisements; thus, they may only be able to connect with the early adopters.

The upside to this problematic situation is that mobile users are more prone to update their mobile devices through mandatory operating system upgrades. For instance, the recent iPhone OS update 3.0 featured a new variant of its Safari webKit browser that supports HTML 5. As a free update initiated through its companion computer software iTunes, the majority of iPhone owners have access to HTML 5 markup language. Leveraging the HTML 5 video element on increasingly popular mobile platforms therefore is more promising in the near future than on desktop platforms.

With the enhanced capabilities of HTML 5, I would expect to see a resurgence of innovative online videos. Advertisers should take advantage of video advertisements, since they will be easier to access by their potential consumers. Additionally, their ever-increasing popularity has not showed any signs of slowing down. As I mentioned in my last column, online video continues to climb in penetration and viewership. In fact, according to recent comScore data, online video experienced a record-breaking month this past July:

• 58 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month, the largest audience ever recorded.
• 1.4 billion videos were viewed during the month, which reached another all time high.
• The majority (81%) of the US internet audience viewed online videos with an average online video viewership of 8.3 hours.

With this extremely high demand for online video and the new video capabilities supported by HTML 5, the next generation of online video will really make dreams come true for both users and advertisers.

If you are an online advertiser, there is no better time to take advantage of online video to drive consumers to your website. Online video viewership and penetration continues to grow along with the increasing popularity of social platforms and smart phones.

Based on a recent eMarketer report, the number of US online video viewers will grow to 188 million in 2013, from 144 million in 2009. Additionally, more than half (59%) of the US population will view online videos in 2013.

Video capabilities have shown vast improvements over the past few years, specifically the streaming quality and availability of HD online content as well as the extended video duration. These video enhancements have attracted new audience segments, beyond the typical 18-24 year old segment. While the younger generation is still the largest demographic, several studies have indicated a boost in online video popularity among older adults and seniors.

One of the most popular types of video is Flash video. While Flash is extremely appealing to the consumer eye, it is often overlooked by the search engine crawlers—they have a difficult time recognizing Flash images or video. Therefore, advertisers need to be sure to optimize their videos so that the search engine spiders can find them. If search engine crawlers can’t find your video, neither will your consumers, leading to missed opportunities.

Although search engines are getting better at reading Flash files, the fact still remains that crawlers prefer to read text. There are a few reasons why Flash does not get indexed or ranked for its keywords within the search engine results. The primary reason is when a user navigates throughout a website, many sites dynamically load Flash videos under the same URL. This presents a problem because URLs need to be unique for proper indexation. Advertisers should separate videos into their own URLs and optimize the meta tags and body content (copy) around the videos in order to rank for relevant keywords.

Most Flash videos have very little text around them and often times if there is text it is typically filled with vacuous marketing copy that lacks important keywords. As a result, search engine crawlers have a hard time finding videos and indexing them. Advertisers should include copy around the Flash videos that includes keyword-rich text, relevant to the searchers’ query. For example, a video for an e-commerce site that is selling discount golf clubs should include the keywords “discount golf clubs” around the video. These keywords can also be incorporated in the anchor text that is shown when you hover the mouse over a video.

Online advertisers, particularly brand advertisers, should take advantage of the online video growth opportunity by using videos to connect and engage with the growing and diversifying audience. Advertisers can increase their brand awareness by incorporating videos on their website as well as on video sites, such as YouTube. These videos could be used to promote or demo a product or service or share consumer success stories that further validate the value of a product or service.

Yahoo’s Rich Ads in Search (RAIS) combine paid search with rich media to further engage consumers within Yahoo search results. These ads provide an effective and clever approach to cross-channel marketing.

With these new ads, advertisers are given the opportunity to market their business beyond the typical paid search ad copy. Their Yahoo paid search ad is complemented with an image that can be clicked-through to a web site, custom search boxes to refine a search, or a video that can be played directly from the Yahoo results pages.

Depending on an advertiser’s overall objectives, Yahoo’s Rich “video” Ads in Search have the potential to make a substantial impact on the performance of a paid search program. The biggest impact may be for advertisers who want to generate more brand awareness.

Here’s an example of a video RAIS ad from Pedigree:

Consumers who are higher in the conversion funnel—brand awareness, brand interaction, discovery, consideration and selection—are typically in the research mode, actively seeking details about a brand or product. These searchers are the ideal targets for advertisers who use Yahoo’s Rich Video Ads in Search. Consumers can scan the ad copy and then click the video to learn more about the advertiser’s brand and its associated products/services.

Advertisers should incorporate product/service specific videos based on high-volume keywords. They should stimulate video and audio interest and inform and entertain consumers. This will help increase clickthrough to advertiser landing pages, and ultimately lead to more sales and conversions. For consumers lower in the conversion funnel, videos can help strengthen existing brand perception which leads to more consumer loyalty and retention.

One potential drawback from Yahoo’s Rich Video Ads in Search could stem from an advertiser’s failure to link the video back to its actual web site. There needs to be a continuum from the paid search ad to the video and finally back to the advertiser’s web site. Upon completion, the video should include a compelling call-to-action that lures consumers to the advertiser’s site.

The popularity for online videos continues to grow. Based on user penetration and interaction, online videos have proven to be an effective channel. According to April 2009 comScore data:

• U.S. Internet users viewed 16.8 billion online videos, an increase of 16 percent from a month earlier
• The average online video viewer watched 385 minutes or 6.4 hours of video
• The average online video duration was 3.5 minutes

With such an engaged audience, video ads—especially in conjunction with paid search—seem like the ideal way to connect with your consumers. They enable advertisers to ride the wave of video popularity and grab the attention of consumers for longer periods of time, which is quite a feat in the online space.

Additionally, video thumbnails helps advertisers stand out among their competitors in the Yahoo search results. This feature is particularly beneficial during such difficult economic times. Advertisers are trying to stretch their marketing dollars in the most efficient and impactful way; they are looking for new ways to attract and gain consumers while staying afloat among the competition.

With Yahoo’s Rich Video Ads in Search, advertisers can utilize multiple channels in one advertisement to intensify their visibility and interactions with consumers. The verdict is still out on the longevity and effectiveness of these ads. However, in the short term, the video ads appear to have earned its name, Yahoo’s “Rich” Ads in Search, providing a wealth of opportunity.

Is there anything more visually appealing than Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing? The engine greets you with spectacular landscape images, complemented by a wealth of historical information and interesting facts. These compelling bits of information also lead you to other areas within Bing, such as the video results page.

The Bing homepage is a great place to be if you happen to be a video site that is closely aligned with one of these featured destinations. However, what if you are not the video site that is linked to the beautiful architecture of Prague, for example? How can you ensure your videos are included within Bing’s search results?

To start, advertisers may submit their Web sites and sitemaps to the MSNbot through Bing’s Webmaster center. Additionally, webmasters have access to tools that assist them with indexation and optimization, including:

• Robots.txt Validation Tool – Checks for incompatibilities with MSNbot to assist with indexation
• HTTP Compression and HTTP Conditional GET Test Tool – Tests Web pages to see it they support HTTP compression and conditional GET, which reduces bandwidth for browsers

It appears there are many key factors that come into play when optimizing your video site for Bing:

• Video Sources: MSN, AOL, MTV, Hulu, ESPN, YouTube, MySpace, DailyMotion, MetaCafe
• Date of Video
• Keyword Relevancy: Title, URL and Description
• Length: short (< 5 min), medium (5-20 min), long (> 20 min)
• Screen Size: standard and widescreen
• Resolution: low, medium and high

The source page and its associated text, as well as the timeliness of the video, seem to have the highest weight within Bing’s algorithm. For example, when you search on the term “Ronald Reagan,” the majority of the results pertain to Nancy Reagan and the recent unveiling of the Ronald Reagan statue in Washington DC. There are several duplicate versions of this coverage from large publishers such as USA Today and YouTube. There are additional video results related to Ronald Reagan; however, they are not as relevant. For example, there is an old trailer for a movie starring Ronald Reagan, which primarily features Bette Davis. There is also a video for the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. These results are not ideal for the query “Ronald Reagan,” presumably about the man himself.

The same search in Google provides a completely different experience. The majority of videos are directly focused on the former President of the United States. These results are not as recent; however, they are much more relevant to the search. There is also more variety in the available results. Searchers looking for videos on Ronald Reagan would be more likely to benefit from the Google search results vs. the Bing search results.

Not only are the final results different in the two search engines, but so is the way they are visually displayed to searchers. For example, the default Bing results show videos that have very little description; they include the title, publisher, length of time and date when available. The default Google results, however, include all of these attributes as well as a detailed description of the video. On the other hand, Bing offers a feature that enables searchers to hover over the video thumbnail to preview a shortened version of the video without a click (Live Search had this for about a year, but people are rediscovering it as part of the Bing launch).

Advertisers should pay close attention to these key differences between Bing and Google. To ensure videos get optimized in Bing, advertisers should effectively incorporate relevant tags on their video source pages as well as include descriptive text. They should also try to utilize the latest and greatest versions of their videos. Lastly, advertisers should ensure their videos appear on sites that both Bing and Google are crawling for the video results pages. Bing in particular seems to be pulling videos from “trusted” video sources, such as CNN, USA Today, YouTube, etc. If an advertiser’s video is located on a site that is not considered a select Bing video source, then, it is less likely to appear in the video results.

According to comScore, Microsoft Sites increased its average daily penetration among U.S. searchers from 13.8 percent (May 26-30, 2009) to 15.5 percent (June 2-6, 2009). Additionally, Microsoft’s share of search result pages in the U.S. increased from 9.1 percent to 11.1 percent during the same time frame. These are great strides for the new engine; however, only time will tell its real success. Is this spike in growth merely due to the aggressive marketing push behind Bing or will the engine prove to be a legitimate “decision engine” that experiences continued adoption and retention over time?

Many savvy advertisers are making strides in attracting their target audience with online videos. They are utilizing popular video sites such as YouTube and Hulu to engage and connect with consumers. This is an extremely smart strategy since 78 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience views online videos, according to March’s comScore Video Metrix.

The entertainment industry, for example, is using advertisements on YouTube’s home page to create hype for new movies such as “Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen.” The example below is a great illustration of how the industry can use eye-catching, still-framed images from the new movie to grab the audience’s attention. In addition, the copy for the advertisement informs the audience about the new movie and its upcoming release date.

Along with the advertiser’s efforts, YouTube assists with the advertisement by including a “watch this video” message in the center of the image. The combination of the bold command, powerful image and effective ad copy lures the audience to the video, which stimulates curiosity as well as a need to view the “sneak peak” trailer.

Once the advertiser has a captured audience, it’s up to the audience to determine the video’s value. A video can either make or break a viewer’s perception of a brand, and this perception can become public within seconds. It’s a known fact that viewers’ opinions are one of many factors that influence YouTube video rankings. Video popularity is measured by star rating systems, total number of views, comments, etc. Thus, advertisers should craft compelling and entertaining videos that are of the highest quality.

For example, Transformers 2 has a five star rating and more than 550,000 views along with almost 4,000 comments. One transformer fan commented, “This is going to be the best movie of the year; I’m going to buy this on DVD.” These are the type of ratings that “transforms” a video advertisement.

From a search optimization standpoint, advertisers should submit their video files to numerous video sites and search engines.This will cast an even wider net for potential audience participation and assist in more brand awareness.

Advertisers should conduct extensive keyword research and ensure that the text that accompanies their videos is rich in relevant, commonly-searched keywords. These keywords should be infused within the title, description and even the file name and URL. For example, the Transformers 2 description includes relevant keywords such as “transformers” and “optimus prime.” They also included well-known cast members such as “Megan Fox.” However, the URL does not include valuable keywords, as you can see here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Veo0G2qfY&feature=fvhr">

Additionally, advertisers should never overlook the power of keyword-rich anchor text. When a viewer hovers over the Transformers 2 video, the full title, “Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen – Official Trailer 2 [HD],” appears rather than “play video” or “watch video.”

One of the golden rules of effective marketing (online and offline) is to include a call-to-action. This is a missed opportunity within the Transformers 2 trailer. The video is closed by the credits, not even the soon to be released date. Advertisers should never forget to remind the audience of how they can further engage with their brand, post video.

There is “more that meets the eye” to online videos. Advertisers should capitalize on all the hidden marketing and optimization opportunities that can transform an online video into an online action hero.

Online video is quickly becoming a dominant medium that is necessary for survival in the online world.

The 2009 NCAA Championship was a televised, “must-see” event that captured an enormous audience last March. It was a highly anticipated event that began with detailed and well-thought out brackets among friends and colleagues. This event was one that could not be missed, whether a person was at a viewing party, working overtime or awaiting a long commute home. Not only was it televised, but is was available for viewing from many web sites.

NCAA.com (powered by CBS Sports.com), dominated the search results for popular keywords such as “final four.” It lured visitors to its web site and presented them with an array of free, on-demand video options.

The site offered an on-demand player, high-quality on-demand player, on-demand from your web site and on-demand from your iPhone. Even better, visitors had the opportunity to personalize their video experiences. For example, they could launch their Facebook status bar within a video player and make comments throughout the games. Additionally, visitors could remix their own highlight video and share it among other remixers using a “highlight remixer” application. NCAA.com offered a one-stop, “on-demand” shop for every college basketball fan’s needs. This boded very well for the web site, since the number one term searched on Google prior to the first game of the tournament was “March madness on demand.” CBSSports.com stated that the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player had 7.52 million unique visitors this past March (4.76 million in 2008). This was a 58 percent increase in visitors from 2008.

For those who did miss North Carolina’s incredible triumph over Michigan State, they need not to worry. In the past, this would be a devastating experience for diehard fans; however, today’s online world relieves any feelings of anguish about missed sports coverage. Online video fills the void with a complete recap of highlights from any major event. People might even prefer to watch an event after it takes place, so that it saves them time (e.g. 5 minute highlights vs. 3 hours of coverage).

Online video continues to evolve in the digital space. It permeates throughout advertisers’ web sites, social networks and news/media sites, which eventually infiltrates the search engine results pages. Online video engages and attracts searchers, and as a result, there is more demand for it. The theory of “survival of the fittest” just might refer to advertisers who incorporate online video capabilities within their search marketing strategies.

Advertisers can learn from March Madness as another way to optimize their web sites in order to capture high demand. They should invest in online video capabilities that draw searchers to their web site, where they can find the video as well as details about the advertiser’s business and offerings.

At first, online video service Hulu appeared to be a futile response to the rising tide of online user uploaded and user generated content—after all, Hulu is a group of major broadcasting networks backing a platform to publish their content online and regain control of their distribution networks. Hulu was declared doomed, and bound to fail.

Now, a year later, Hulu appears to be thriving. It has had a lot of press and Nielsen recently declared that Hulu is the number two online destination for video behind YouTube. Hulu also launched a memorable advertising campaign during the Super Bowl. Moreover, Hulu videos turn up frequently in the top search results for a video query.

Hulu fills a genuine desire for professionally generated content on the Web. Google trends for any given television series shows spikes in popularity for the days after the show airs. For example, 30 Rock over the past few months.

Consumers appear to have agreed to compromise with networks and advertisers for the high quality content they provide. Hulu enables a person to watch TV online with a much better experience than provided by YouTube, network Web sites, or even on-demand television channels. Professionally created television shows and movies are easily searched and content is readily available in a user friendly environment.

Hulu’s model, supported by growth in its first year of existence, and the ways in which search can support this model are intriguing in their simplicity. To continue this success, Hulu must strengthen its position as a premier destination to watch professional video content online.

However, I do wonder if solely being a home for content will suffice for Hulu. People like to express themselves online. An example of this is the rapid rise of Twitter—a venue that supports constant exclamations of existence in a few sentences. Other online venues are moving towards stretching out their integration with other mediums and facilitating connections between users. Hulu, on the other hand, does not empower a consumer to declare themselves through the videos they watch, or the characters they follow. It does not yet provide a deeper engagement than television; it provides a means for having a television experience online. For advertisers, this means that consumers are not attaching themselves to brands as they do elsewhere online, but attributing brands to television shows, as they have always done.

It will be interesting to see if people remain satisfied with this limited engagement or if Hulu will have to adapt to provide its users with more creative options. Hulu’s future may be an indication of the extent of consumers’ willingness to compromise for content at the expense of expressing themselves through their own creations and conversations.

According to comScore, YouTube surpassed Yahoo! as the #2 search engine in terms of search query volume in August of last year.  Recently, Google used the functionality of AdWords to launch the new YouTube sponsored video product, which allows advertisers to bid on keywords that trigger their video ad to appear in the YouTube search results.   The ad brings YouTube users to a video uploaded by the advertiser on the YouTube site.  Many advertisers who use sponsored video run a YouTube channel, which is branded by the advertiser as their own space on YouTube and includes a link to the advertiser’s Web site.  The main difference between Google paid search and YouTube sponsored video search is that the advertiser promotes a video that is on YouTube, the goal being to drive YouTube video views and not traffic to the advertiser’s site.

YouTube sponsored videos are primarily a used for brand advertising and can be very effective in promoting TV spots and other original content.   YouTube sponsored videos also give the advertiser a better chance in promoting a video viral, in addition to offering a new way for consumers to engage with their brand.  However, just because YouTube is getting more search than Yahoo! doesn’t mean that the YouTube searcher is the target the advertiser is after.

Whether YouTube sponsored videos should be a part of an advertiser’s online marketing mix depends on the business objective of the advertiser.  Large advertisers have different budgets and different goals (i.e. branding, ROI, or lead generation) across a variety of digital channels.  To determine if a channel such as YouTube is effective, a measurement of the value of the media buy is critical.  Once that data is gathered and analyzed, decisions can be made about how to optimize spend on a particular channel, or shift spend to a channel that performs better in relation to a specific goal.  This highlights the importance of data management and analysis, which helps to unlock the best media channels and optimize campaigns based on specific business objectives.

For example, if an advertiser is running a lead gen or ROI campaign, YouTube sponsored video may not be a good match.  On the other hand, for a brand advertiser, it’s all about connecting with a target audience.  Brand advertisers know and understand the value of a person watching a 30-second spot on a national broadcast.  For example, if it’s worth $10 for a single person to watch a 30-second commercial, and an advertiser is able to attract video search clicks on YouTube for $2.00, the advertiser can prove the ROI on YouTube.  There’s even extra relevance factored in as the YouTube user actively searched for the ad, or similar content, and chose to click on the ad.  Also, a YouTube channel is not in a silo on YouTube.  YouTube videos often rank on Google for certain keywords, giving an advertiser with a branded channel that creates additional exposure and traffic.

Are YouTube sponsored video ads right for you? The answer lies in measuring the value of a YouTube sponsored media buy.