Google to ramp up YouTube ad-friendly content

Google Australia plans to add more original content to its video website YouTube in a bid to appeal to marketers’ rising interest in online video advertisements.

According to Nick Leeder, managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, the company has built a solid stable of marquee advertisers for YouTube over the past year.

“To get more revenue, YouTube needs more content. We need to figure out what it is that users want more of and then find a way to give it to them,” Leeder said in a statement.

“A lot of the content people look at on YouTube is short-form. Is that the nature of YouTube or can we run long-form video on it?”

Google does not run advertisements in or next to user-generated content on YouTube. However, if someone posts content that is extremely popular, Google asks them to become a “partner”.

Partner agreements allow Google to run ads with content.

It’s been reported that Google’s head office in the United States plans to spend $US100 million on original content for 20 new channels on YouTube.

Leeder said while Google Australia is unlikely to invest in original video content, he “wouldn’t rule it out”.

According to research company Nielsen Online, YouTube’s Australian audience has grown strongly over the past year, rising from 6.55 million in May 2010 to 7.25 million in May this year.

It now ranks as the fourth most popular website in Australia, with Google at number one.

Nielsen research also reveals almost three quarters of Australian businesses are dedicating at least 10% of their budgets to social media marketing, with YouTube forming an increasingly important part of this.

According to YouTube marketing guru Farid Alhadi, no marketing strategy is complete without a multimedia presence.

“Whether you’re a small business or large corporation, YouTube videos are as key of a component in having a comprehensive online marketing presence as having a main website or social media channels,” Alhadi says.

In order to maximise the marketing value of YouTube, Alhadi says you need to invest in quality content. If you goal is to have a video go viral, your content should accomplish the following:

• Share-worthy. Your video should make viewers want to share with friends. It’s best if this increases your views exponentially, meaning every one viewer passes it to at least two people.
• Replay value. Your video should cause viewers to want to replay it.

“Viral content is usually gut-busting comedy or captures something absolutely amazing and rare to see,” Alhadi says.

“Another great way to get a lot of views are ‘how to’ videos – answering a common question with a brief instructional video.”

Alhadi encourages YouTube marketers to take advantage of social networks as a way of promoting their content, and believes the best time to launch a video is on Friday or Sunday, either during lunch or after work.