Google syndicates YouTube videos

Google has announced that it will distribute YouTube videos via the tens of thousands of websites that form its vast advertising network.

The move is an attempt to monitise its $1.65bn (£811m) acquisition of YouTube as the videos will be supported by advertisements, generating revenues that Google will share with the website owners and creators of the videos.

Ben Schacther, analyst at UBS in New York, said: “The idea that they would syndicate this content was not unexpected. It’s surprising how long it has taken.

“The question is, how will the economics work, how will the targeting work? It is still wait and see from a financial perspective.”

Google’s AdSense network comprises tens of thousands of so-called content partners, including Channel 4 and Reuters, which sign up to receive relevant adverts to include on their websites.

dvertisers pay whenever their adverts are clicked on and Google shares any revenues with the website owners.

By including relevant YouTube videos as well as ads, Google says its content partners will keep their audiences’ attention for longer and earn extra revenue along the way.

The service will at first only select video from around 100 media companies, such as Expert Village, which produces how-to videos. These will be accompanied by small text and banner advertisements relevant to the content of the video and webpage. It is currently only available for US AdSense partners.

Tech industry veteran Om Malik was unimpressed by the news. He wrote on the blog GigaOM: “[This] shows that Google is still struggling to figure out how to make money from its YouTube acquisition. Text ads worked because they were less intrusive than the monstrosities that passed for display ads back in the day. Video-enhanced AdSense seems to be a rerun of that story!”

Google said it intends to use AdSense to syndicate other types of content besides video in the future.

Source: The Telegraph