We have all heard of websites making money through ads placed on them. These maybe as static ads or many a times dynamic ads in the form of video overlays created using ADOBE FLASH or other products. The problem that most ad creators face is that they either don’t have the expertise to make these video overlay ads or it is too expensive for them to afford.
Well Google apparently appears to have created a web-based user interface that will allow advertisers to choose from templates made up of text fields to overlay attributes on videos. Thus ad creators will be able to use this tool and create video overlays easily for the videos that Google hosts via Youtube. And Google plans to take it to the next level by actually patenting it wherein they have filed a patent for Video Overlay Advertisement Creator. According to the patent application, the invention enables the creation of video overlay advertisements in which the description of an advertisement is reduced to a small set of attributes easily specifiable via a convenient browser-based interface, and the resulting advertisement is stored within a remote advertisement database.
Google hopes that by creating this tool they will pave the way for a new way of online video marketing and thus also generating more revenue for themselves through Youtube. Also having enhanced features by which one can create and edit these video overlays they hope this will be a boon to both themselves and online marketing in general. Here is a sample of what a video overlay ad looks like.
Well, I personally feel that this is a good move by Google and that most ad creators would definitely go ahead and use this new tool. Also Youtube being such a popular engine for viewing videos, the idea of using overlays on the videos to promote products is a very effective tool. Thus the viewer ain’t forced to look at something bright and flashy and then again the ad exists without being too obvious and gets the message across to the people.
But, then again I am a Google fan and my opinion might be biased in their favor. I would love to hear from you on what you think about this as an idea.
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From a business perspective, this patent will reap big rewards for Google. As Vivek notes, the technical hurdles of overlaying ads on videos will essentially be erased, and advertisers will be more inclined to use the technology since it will be accessible in a simple web interface. In fact, the System Architecture section of the patent describes how this technology can be used in a variety of network types, allowing advertisers to reach millions both on the web and through other mediums (such as wireless networks, mobile phones, etc).
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months regarding the Bilski case, since the Supreme Court ruling will play a big role in determining the fate of software (and business method) patents. I presume the broad nature of the patent will need to be more narrowly focused, since companies like Brightroll and SpotMixer offer similar services (and SpotMixer even offers the creation of video ads for free). Could we see a case like Amazon’s One-Click technology, where the patent is overturned as a result of “prior art” (i.e., if an invention has been described previously, a patent on that invention is invalid)? We’ll see…
Actually SpotMixer and Google Pair to Offer Self-Serve Online Video Ads according to this website here. So, it might be interesting to see if SpotMixer has any objections to Google patenting this new creation.