TechCrunch reports that YouTube is adding a new ad type to its ad mix named “Call-To-Action Overlay” ads. These ads are very simple, they basically allow you to add a link to a third-party site, off of YouTube. The ad is a transparent background with an ad description and link to any site you want. I can see the ad live on this video and here is a picture:

This new ad type is reportedly launching today at https://ads.youtube.com/. It is interesting to note that the small vertical line in the YouTube play bar is where the ad starts to display.

YouTube officially launched sponsored videos in November 2008. But YouTube ads have yet to make a serious impact on the revenue scale for Google, as of yet.

Postscript: The YouTube blog posted the official details a few hours after this post.

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: AdWords | Google: YouTube & Video

About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz

Connect with the author via: Email | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn