Is Web Video Like TV?

2008 really does seem to be the year that online video hosts like YouTube, Google Video, Microsoft, Blip.tv and many other smaller players zero in on making money.

The big question is, what if they can't figure it out?

It's pretty obvious that both local and cable broadcasters are trying really hard to keep making money with advertising. I don't watch much television (ironically enough) and when I recently watched an episode of Family Guy I was pretty surprised to see an ad for the next show taking up the lower left corner of the screen, complete with audio, right in the middle of a scene.

This doesn't make me want to watch more television, that's for sure.

But it seems that the companies gracious enough to host videos for free are trying methods like that to sell advertising space on their "video inventory" to help pay for all that bandwidth and hard drive space they're giving away.

The problem is, advertisers aren't buying.

It's possible that online advertisers are a little more savvy than their TV counterparts and are not so easily convinced that placing their ad on top of a video is going to be welcomed and help them generate more sales, positive brand awareness, etc. There are so many other options for advertising online, ways that have proven track records, that online advertisers are rightfully wary of placing ads on video overlays.

I just hope that an increase in the number of ads displayed on video will not dampen the rise in the number of online video watchers in the next few years.

I still maintain that the best way to reach your market through online video is to create your own videos, or have someone you trust do them for you. In most cases these will not directly be ads, as most people will not watch a random ad, but something that will inform, entertain, and bring some value to the person watching it.