Monday, January 08, 2007
Google Video Experiments with Commercial Breaks
In a sign of things to come for YouTube, Google Video is experimenting with commercial breaks within videos, not before or after them. It's not entirely new since you've probably experienced them while watching Heroes on NBC Video or Vanished on FOX.
However, one factor working against these commercials is the short length of typical user-uploaded videos. When a commercial is 15 to 30 seconds long and embedded within a 1.5 minute video, that gets to be truly annoying. These aren't likely to be rolled out to most videos you'll see because of time limitations, but I'd bet videos uploaded by mainstream content producers like CBS or NBC will start featuring them.
The commercials are indicated by blue boxes inside the progress bar. You'll see them after pressing Play. You can skip through the video as usual, but if you start viewing the commercial, you'll have to sit through it. You can watch a Charlie Rose clip with commercial below or here:
However, one factor working against these commercials is the short length of typical user-uploaded videos. When a commercial is 15 to 30 seconds long and embedded within a 1.5 minute video, that gets to be truly annoying. These aren't likely to be rolled out to most videos you'll see because of time limitations, but I'd bet videos uploaded by mainstream content producers like CBS or NBC will start featuring them.
The commercials are indicated by blue boxes inside the progress bar. You'll see them after pressing Play. You can skip through the video as usual, but if you start viewing the commercial, you'll have to sit through it. You can watch a Charlie Rose clip with commercial below or here:
