Google AdSense video units are now ready for use on blogs.
I went to my Google AdSense account and downloaded the video unit.
If you do not have a YouTube account, you must first establish one prior to downloading the video unit.
After getting your confirmation code from YouTube, you are ready to customize your Google AdSense video unit.
There are choices for sizes, theme (colors), and ad content. I chose “Automated Content”. You can also choose specific categories/providers.
Once you have made all of your choices, you will receive an embed code to insert into your blog.
I have inserted it at the bottom of my post. Check it out for yourself.
Google claims these are targeted non-intrusive ads, that enhance a user’s experience.
The video unit can also be easily edited.
What do you think?
Is the Google AdSense video unit an effective way to monetize your blog?
UPDATE: I have removed the ad. It was taking up too much space, and I did not find it complimented my blog. So….if you want to see one in action, you’ll have to go “surfing”.
It does appear good. I must admit I don’t really understand it yet! I’m not normally that stupid, rather, a little slow sometimes until I get a sudden flash of understanding.
I think it depends on the blog. Because I have a foot in both camps now – a company blog and a personal one, I’m not certain on affilliate links and advertising on a company one.
And if I do go down the road of monetising the company blog, it feels right that it is toned down and not as in your face.
However, on personal and topical blogs which don’t have a particular company behind them, I suspect it will be very useful (once I really understand it!).
I deliberately haven’t installed speakers in the office because I find I can distract myself too much at times!
At home, then great.
Hi Ian,
For testing purposes, I inserted Google’s new form of AdSense, on this blog ( I had it on my other one, but found it to be too distracting).
What I have found so far, is they take up a lot of space, therefore, I inserted it “below the fold”.
I agree, with your company blog, which by the way, looks very professional, any form of advertising, may cheapen it. You certainly wouldn’t want a visitor/customer to get distracted by an ad, and lose them as a customer, over the possibility of making a few dollars.
As far as making money off of the video ad, the verdict is still out on that. I will be surfing and clicking on ads I find, and see if they truly are a “fit” for my blogs. I will then do a post based on the results of my findings.
Hi Barbara – the idea sounds good. The only problem is, I have slow Broadband, so the video took ages to even show up. But, if most have your visitors have faster broadband it is definitely a change from ordinary Adsense.
Hi Catherine,
I agree slow broadband or dial up, will affect how the videos load.
It appears to be a good concept, however, it will be interesting to see if it will stand the test of time.
Hello Barbara,
As I commented on another post, the video is really funny. But I was quite not sure what it is advertising, donuts and what? What brand?
I should check what kind of ads I can put on my site. But as my site is not really about these cool entertainment, I wonder if it becomes more distraction to readers.
But having said that video is a good way to communicate certain concepts. I definitely think there will be more blogs that leverage both videos and texts.
I am looking forward to learning your findings from your experiment. Thank you for trying it out!
Asako,
Thank you for your input on this one.
I watched part of the same video on another web page (don’t think I’m suppose to click on my own), anyway, I couldn’t figure the video out either. I also noticed it was a 7 minute video. That seems like an awful long video for an ad. Since it wasn’t making sense to me, I didn’t watch the whole thing.
After watching the video, I did take the ad off of my OM blog. It does seem like it could be a distraction, and may take away from the content of a blog.
The ad I am currently showing is also the smallest size available.
I have also read that in order to make AdSense income from the video, it requires two clicks. One on the ad, and one on the video. That seems like a lot of clicking, for an ad that uses so much space on a page.
The verdict is still out on this one, but I will keep you all posted.
Hmm, but where is the ad, do you know? While I was watching the long funny video, I kept hitting on the screen, but obviously there’s no ad there…
Asako,
The only ad I see is the one on the upper left hand corner of the video screen.
Whether this actually is a means to generate revenue, is still a mystery to me. I will leave it on this blog, for about a month, and if I don’t see that it’s “working”, will remove it, as it does take up a lot of valuable space.
Plus, I worry, it may really slow down my “page loading” time.
A new advertising program called WidgetBucks came out recently. It displays products that are contextually matched to your blog. While the verdict is still out, I’ve heard people mentioning some of the same negatives as with AdSense video units: too big and too slow.
Whether the video units end up passing the test or not, I always like to see new options for advertising emerge. Variety is always good, and every method will either work or teach us something about what doesn’t work.
Hi there SpicePuppy,
About WidgetBucks…I have that on my list to research. I’ve seen it on a few blogs, but haven’t figured out what it’s all about.
I agree, we have to experiment. The video unit may work on some blogs, but I just didn’t think it “fit” on either of mine. If Google changes the format of it, I may try it again in the future.