YouTube trials pre-roll ads around broadcaster content
YouTube has launched a trial of pre-roll ads around content from BBC Worldwide, Channel 4, Discovery, ITN and National Geographic.
Activision, Renault, Match.com, Nissan and Warner Brothers are among the first advertisers to take advantage of the inventory, which kicks off today. Pre-roll ads will first appear around Channel 4’s content via a deal managed by media agency PHD.
YouTube has recommended ads ahead of short-form content should be 15 seconds, with an upper limit of 30 seconds. The pre-rolls will be sold on a CPM basis by YouTube’s sales team.
Suveer Kothari, head of YouTube in the UK, said the aim was to encourage content providers to upload more video to the service by providing them with more revenue opportunities.
“This will give users more free, entertaining, professional content to view, and provide advertisers with more professional inventory to showcase their TV creative against,” he said.
Errol Baran, head of future & digital media advertising at Channel 4, said it was vital to continue to innovate to reflect viewers’ habits. “Audience appetite for video-on-demand continues to demonstrate the shifting patterns of video consumption,” he said.