Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#1

Post by sidcool » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 5:39 AM UTC

Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads
bloomberg.com

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#2

Post by coding4all » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 6:17 AM UTC

Thank god for Minitube [1] and youtube-dl [2] . youtube-dl can download videos from not only YouTube, but over 500 different services.

[1] http://flavio.tordini.org/minitube

[2] https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#3

Post by shitlord » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 6:23 AM UTC

I think this might be an effective response to AdBlock. It seems like death by 1000 cuts.

If ad blockers don't work on YouTube, then the average person won't bother to use them (because they won't be bothered to configure them). Videos are everywhere, and networks have improved to the point where you can reliably stream them from a mobile device. Is this the beginning of video ads plastered all over the web? Or is this just going to make YouTube more annoying?

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#4

Post by bob917 » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 6:33 AM UTC

I work for an advertising agency in Memphis and would like to remind everyone how awesome advertisements are!

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#5

Post by nostromo » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 6:37 AM UTC

shitlord wrote: post #3

I think this might be an effective response to AdBlock. It seems like death by 1000 cuts. If ad blockers don't work on YouTube, then the average person won't bother to use them (because they won't be bothered to configure them). Videos are everywhere, and networks have improved to the point where you can reliably stream them from a mobile device. Is this the beginning of video ads plastered all over the web? Or is th…

I think this is unrelated to AdBlock. It seems to be only about how many users click the "skip" button on YouTube ads.

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#6

Post by j_lev » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 6:38 AM UTC

Simplest way to check whether people are looking at the ads is to make them all "skip to video in x seconds" ads, and then monitor for users who machine-gun said Skip button.

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#7

Post by sidcool » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 6:42 AM UTC

I think detecting Ctrl+Tab or Alt+Tab is a good enough ballpark way of detecting if users are viewing a video ad.

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#8

Post by nkangoh » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 6:48 AM UTC

Anyone watch Black Mirror? Remember 15 Million Merits? Heh...

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#9

Post by jarcane » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 6:56 AM UTC

I think the most amusing detail of this story is that the stock plot shows a 12-point drop in Google's share price on the date of this story. There's even a noticeable valley in the day chart right around the time this story came out.

It's almost as if the investors are cottoning on to the storytime ...

Re: Google Unveils a Tool to Check If Users Are Looking at Video Ads

#10

Post by AdamTReineke » Wed, Jan 07, 2015, 7:04 AM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #5

shitlord wrote: post #3

I think this might be an effective response to AdBlock. It seems like death by 1000 cuts. If ad blockers don't work on YouTube, then the average person won't bother to use them (because they won't be bothered to configure them). Videos are everywhere, and networks have improved to the point where you can reliably stream them from a mobile device. Is this the beginning of video ads plastered all over the web? Or is th…

I think this is unrelated to AdBlock. It seems to be only about how many users click the "skip" button on YouTube ads.

I can't believe they weren't already reporting that. If I was an advertiser, I'd want to know how many people were skipping my ad and their demographics so I could stop targeting that segment -- or change my ads to reach that group better.