For one, according to this piece, Schmidt says Google is looking at addressing an apparently popular concern from advertisers – that there are too many ad formats to choose from.

So too many choices in how to reach consumers is a problem? Is Google going to reduce the number of options available? Well, I guess we’ll see, but at the same time, Schmidt is also quoted about some new interactive video ads Google has in store. Vascellaro reports, "Such ads, which could appear anywhere on a Web page, not just inside a video, would be like mini-Web pages. That means they could allow Web users to watch a video, leave a comment and see real-time updates within the ads that are more customized to their interests." She adds that Schmidt suggested such ads will become "prevalent", but didn’t comment on specific plans.

Search Engine Land contributing editor Greg Sterling suggests, "I would expect these forthcoming video units to also show up in search at some point, making them perhaps the ultimate combination of search + display."

Google is always experimenting with different ad offerings and strategies, so I find Schmidt’s comments about the "too many formats" issue interesting. Regardless of the amount of format choice Google provides, they’re also increasingly offering more tools and resources for advertisers to better hone their campaigns.

As far as rich media ads are concerned, it looks like we can expect spending on this kind for format to continue to increase.

Would you rather Google offered less choices for ad formats? Share your thoughts.

YouTube says that when it first began testing in-stream ads a couple years ago, abandonment rates on videos were as high as 70%. They found that users were much more likely to view and engage with overlay ads.

"But over time we found that different kinds of content provide different experiences for viewers, and that in-stream ads work pretty well on certain videos, like clips from TV shows or full-length movies," says YouTube. "We first launched in-stream ads last year, and we’ve continued to innovate and test different in-stream formats on YouTube (like user-choice pre-rolls)."

Users may find the skippable pre-rolls slightly annoying but tolerable, since they are still in control of whether they have to watch it or not. They may come off as a bit intrusive, similar to pop-up ads, but if they are easy to skip, people will probably be willing to continue on with the video.

Chances are, they will see enough of the ad to begin with to at least gain some kind of brand awareness. That’s really going to be all up to the ad though. Advertisers looking at this kind of spot may want to strongly consider getting the meat of the message in as early as possible.

"We know what you’re thinking: who would choose to watch an ad when they can skip it?" says YouTube. "Well, that’s what we’re trying to find out. In our previous research, we’ve actually seen that lots of users will watch pre-rolls. Abandonment rates are affected by several factors, notably length and creative. When a pre-roll is only 15 seconds, we see completion rates as high as 85%. Also, creative matters a lot: the quality and relevance of the ad itself seems to have 3x the influence on abandonment online as it does on TV. Viewers online tend to be much more active in making choices about what they watch."

Remember that these new ads are only being tested at this point, but YouTube seems quite optimistic that it may have found its best advertising solution yet. We’ll see if the tests confirm this, and if this becomes a normal ad-type for the world’s most popular video site (and 2nd largest search engine).

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[Via GoogleWatchBlog.]

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