Google Ads on YouTube

In an earlier post, I suggested companies to pay YouTube users who have viral videos in their early viral stages (while it's still spreading across the web at a very high rate) for advertising purposes. Google is now doing this. Google is using popular videos as an advertising space for online advertising.

I love this idea as they're really taking advantage of web 2.0, and making loads of money off the value that mass collaborations bring. A whole new route for online advertising has been built! I wonder how much money will Google make off this.

Random Thoughts on YouTube and E-Marketing

Top 5 Most Viewed, All Time (Official)

Two out of the top five are music videos, and the other three are obviously not professionally made. Out of these five videos, I can only find one remotely funny. Does this mean humor is an overrated factor for creating viral videos?

I am sure people and experts are more than capable of coming up with reasons for why these videos became viral, and especially after there are millions of views! The reasons can be: the dog is cute, the girls are attractive, and so on.

Can you imagine how many videos with these so called "viral videos making components" don't even get 500 views? Therefore, I have came up with a very unofficial theory. I know there are studies and researches done on how to create viral videos, but from watching these most viewed videos on YouTube, I truly believe that luck is still the single most significant determining factor.

1. Since June 12th 2008, "Sasha CHEER for Team U.S.A!!!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ribqGr-yxw


2. Since April 5th 2006, "Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXdNnw99-Ic


3. Since August 8th 2007, "Brick & Lace: Love is Wicked (OFFICIAL Video..Standard DEF)" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrQ2SvjzIOk


4. Since May 28th 2007, "Powerthirst" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs


5. Since September 17th 2006, "Bring Me To Life - Evanescence" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TILCIRspO0

Two Amazing Channels/Personality (Personal Preference)

When someone develops a great reputation (and viewers base) on YouTube, they can really start using that reputation to make some serious money. There are people on YouTube who has thousands of subscribers, and millions of views for their videos, so what's the wait..Coca Cola, let's negotiate a deal.

1. Phillip DeFranco: A great speaker who talks about current hot issues and news in a very compelling and humourous style! http://www.youtube.com/user/sxephil


2. MRirian: the exact opposite of Phillip. She looks into the camera, and makes cute expressions, while she doesn't speak much. She has made 75 videos so far, and all of these have over a million views. http://www.youtube.com/user/MRirian

Take Advantage of a Viral Video

There is an extremely popular video on YouTube recently. It features a woman "going insane after missing her flight". Insane is an understatement. The woman was simply out of control. She was screaming out displeasures, slamming her fists, and writhing on the floor. Check it out yourself:



The number of views have increased by a million in the last 21 hours! The video has drawn more than 3.1 million views ever since it was posted on YouTube 5 days ago, and edited videos (i.e. the same video, but with English subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHp7tn9yfm4&feature=related) are being posted rapidly as well. This definitely qualifies as a "viral video".

This gets me thinking. A business can easily step in right now, or even a couple days earlier to take advantage of this kind of viral videos. Through a negotiation of compensation, the person who posted this video can put the name of a business on the video for advertising purposes. For example, Air Canada can pay $10, 000 to have a message that says "If this poor lady chose Air Canada, this will never happen" pop up at the end of the video. Done deal! Easy business!

There are many ways around this as well. The person who posted this video can offer different things at different price levels. For example, $20, 000 to name the video after a business, or $5, 000 to have a pop up window visible for 5 seconds.

I'm sure there can be a lot of details in a negotiation like this, but all I know is that the person who owns the video has nothing to lose by accepting the unexpected compensation (maybe a minute of work to put the message in the video), and moreover, it's an awesome deal for businesses to only pay thousands of dollars for literally millions of views.

Superbowl Commercials on Youtube

Everyone is crazy about the Superbowl commercials, because they are simply awesome! People actually turn their televisions on just to watch these commercials.

Watch this hilarious Superbowl commercial, which is voted best on YouTube:


Major brands spend millions of dollars to create and air commercials in between a Superbowl game. To be more precise, CBS charged $2.6 million for a 30 second commercial during Superbowl XLl last Sunday. These numbers won't shock anyone as these expensive commercials air time has been a tradition for years.

And for the last few years, there are millions of people (including myself) who go on YouTube to watch these Superbowl commercials. You can watch any commercials anytime. YouTube had to take a lot of these videos off due to copy rights, which then makes watching these great commercials much harder. I have to Google and search for secure websites, which is such a hassle.

Guess what?

YouTube finally figured everything out. First, major brands set up accounts on YouTube, so they can upload their commercials on Youtube. Second, there is a ballot on YouTube(http://www.youtube.com/adblitz) for viewers to both view and vote for the best Superbowl commercials. This is perfect in two perspectives as normal viewers like myself can watch these hilarious commercials anytime I want, and major brands like Doritos can gain more exposure from their commercials.

Good job YouTube!