Today, while the rest of us were looking the other way, Google stepped into shopper marketing in a huge way and barely anyone noticed. As reported by The Next Web, the search giant stared leveraging their video capabilities to help brands get the most out of YouTube. While video seems like an isolated way for Google to wade into digital shopper marketing, it’s actually part of a much larger push to grab advertising dollars. One key element is that online video ads are already accepted by most consumers.
Over the past several months, Google has attempted to leverage it’s size and reach to control display ad networks on some of the largest retail sites on the web. They have put together guidelines that separate out what is an “impression” and what is a “viewable impression” on pages. They have even gone as far as to offer exclusivity on video channels inside YouTube, along with adwords targeted to video.
Reports by several companies over the last year have shown that video is on the rise as a content delivery vehicle for companies. Google’s YouTube is a natural fit for distribution of video content. Brands can create their own channels and drive traffic directly to it from paid search and organic methods. As the proliferation of video across the web continues and more shopper marketing dollars are directed at the medium, it’s easy to see why Brandcast is a quiet coup for Google.