Those who come across video ads are witnessing a shift from the prevalence of classifieds-style, vertically focused video ads to ones aimed at whoever finds them online.

Banner advertising for years represented the way to make money online, until Google took contextual search advertising and ran away from the field with its implementation of the AdWords service. Display advertising still held a solid place, especially with big brands looking to place their message alongside certain favorable content.

That was then. Classified Intelligence said the new display ad is the video display, rather than the image banner of yore. Several factors contribute to this shift, CI said in a recent client report.

Among those reasons, unsurprisingly, is Google. Their foray into video advertising isn’t limited to certain verticals. Their beta test of a new video advertising offering allows advertisers to select the destinations for the video ads they place.

It’s a simple case of following the eyeballs. CI cited Ipsos Media on the change in media consumption habits: in 12 months, video-watching on TV dropped 5 percent (75 to 70), while Net video watching rose 8 percent (11 to 19).

Eyeball-followers should include the ad dollars from automotive, retail, and financial advertisers. They cut broadcast spending in 2008 while increasing cable spending, a trend CI said show willingness to follow consumers.

Google and other competitors await the big shift in those dollars to their services. Tremor Media CEO Jason Glickman, cited in the report, believes these advertisers started migrating to online ads with their lowered participation in the customary up-front TV ad buying period.

“People are holding back budgets to use online,” he said. A prediction by eMarketer noted by CI called for $4.3 billion in in-page and streaming video ad spending by 2011.