YouTube Introduces Self-Serve Overlay Ads

YouTube's struggle to start making a profit is well known, but, for all its efforts, Google hasn't been able to actually make money from its video site. Things are going the right way, though, and YouTube is constantly adding new monetization options. The latest such move is a tool for small advertisers to create overlay ads, the ads that show up inside the video at the bottom, which usually require specialized tools that are outside the means and expertise of these small clients.

Self-serve ads are a very appealing proposition for both advertisers and ad networks as well. By providing simple tools for small companies to create their own ads, companies that can't afford to hire an ad agency, Google can sell much more ads than it would normally be able to. A couple of years ago, Google launched the Display Ad Builder, a tool for creating banner ads based on the tens of templates it offers. Now, Google is expanding on that with a new feature that allows advertisers to create overlay ads for YouTube.

"Today, we're announcing another new feature in Display Ad Builder that lets advertisers use simple templates to create InVideo overlays and companion ads on YouTube," Christian Oestlien, product manager at Google, wrote. "[B]uilding overlays has always been difficult for small advertisers, who often don’t have access to the resources needed to create these animated ads. That’s where Display Ad Builder in AdWords comes in."

YouTube says it streams over one billion videos every day and previous numbers indicated that it was monetizing one billion videos per week. That number is likely to have grown, but, even so, that's a lot of inventory to be filled. With the new Display Ad Builder feature, advertisers can convert their existing display ads into overlay ads and YouTube says they can have a campaign going in a matter of minutes. Of course, with the number of customization options available, this is likely to take a lot more.