From Stuart Elliott on Media Decoder Blog, May 23 – In the early days of online video, commercials that appeared before viewers could watch clips, known as preroll, got “thumbs down” from most computer users. That attitude seems to have softened more recently, a change of heart that Web giants have noticed.
Case in point, the YouTube unit of Google, which for some time has exposed visitors to youtube.com to commercials that start to play as soon as the Web site opens in their browsers.
On Monday, many visitors saw a commercial for “Kung Fu Panda 2” on the top part of the YouTube home page, a k a the masthead.
Now, YouTube is expanding opportunities for advertisers with what the company is calling First Watch. The name tells the story: an advertiser can buy a preroll spot on most people’s first view of a YouTube video each day. Read full article