YouTube Advertising Options Expand

Links within YouTube ads have, until now, done little more than send viewers to other YouTube videos.  And so they’ve represented the equivalent of infomercials that didn’t supply telephone numbers – the home audience is only encouraged to keep watching, not complete a purchase.  But new Call-to-Action overlays address this issue.

Advertisers can now get their YouTube ads to link to other sites.  The option doesn’t cost anything extra, and it’s been made about as simple as can be.

A post on the YouTube Biz Blog explains, "First, run a campaign to promote your video on YouTube.  Then, go to the Video Details page under My Videos and fill out the fields in the section marked ‘Call-to-Action overlay.’  All you have to do is include a short headline, ad text, a destination url, and upload an optional image, and the overlay will appear whenever someone watches your video."

A still example’s visible below.

It’s likely that this minor tweak will get existing advertisers considerably more excited about YouTube.  It might even be enough for other companies to reallot their advertising budgets.  We don’t expect that YouTube will see any significant (or even measurable) traffic drops, either.