Google/YouTube Idea Market Winners Selected - It’s a Tie!

Ad Overlays on the Video and Company Sponsorships Chosen as Best Approaches

Among the 12 ideas in the Google/YouTube prediction market, our panel of experts judged the Ad Overlays on the Video for the First 10 Seconds or So and Company Sponsorhip of pages, categories, channels or communities as offering Google the greatest opportunities for monetizing YouTube through ads.

The eLab eXchange voted ad overlays somewhere around the video, not on the video itself as the clear favorite, followed by short pre-rolls,and company sponsorships.

Short mid-rolls received the most negative tokens from eLab eXchange members. T

he expert judges agreed with the eLab eXchange members that ad overlays around the video, but not on the video itself are a nice idea in a perfect world, but that the clear trend is toward ad overlays. The reason is simple: ad overlays are more difficult for consumers to ignore and managers consider a few seconds of shared attention a reasonable exchange for free content.

In making their decision, the judges considered current practice on the Internet as well as in related media. For example, television programs are increasingly making use of ad overlays on programming content. The judges believe this trend is not only likely to continue, but proliferate. The judges also selected company sponsorship as a winner because of the obvious opportunities it affords Google to showcase advertiser-relevant video.

Thanks to the eLab eXchange members and our expert panel! 

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