Google expands video ad test

Google is expanding the pool of companies that will showcase video ads on its AdSense publisher network to include The Wall Street Journal, two Conde Nast Web sites and Life/Style Television, a Google spokesman confirmed on Wednesday.

The search giant sent e-mails to some of its Web site publisher customers this week offering them the opportunity to participate in a pilot program involving video ads from The Wall Street Journal online, Life/Style Television and Conde Nast's Epicurious.com and Style.com. The ads will be contextually targeted to the content on the Web sites.

Google is broadening a test announced on Monday in which it said it would run ads from Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music on its publisher customer sites, said Google spokesman Brandon McCormick. Revenue will be divided three ways, between the content owner, the Web site publisher and Google, and ads will be billed on a cost-per-thousand impressions model, like traditional display ads.

Last summer, Google distributed MTV video clips over its AdSense network as part of an earlier test.

Last year, Conde Nast added how-to cooking videos to Epicurious, the Web site for Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines, and expanded its fashion and designer videos on Style.com, the Web site for Vogue and W magazines.

One AdSense publisher who was asked to participate said he was thrilled at the opportunity, predicting that video ads would outperform standard Google text ads as long as the video ads are user-initiated and only start playing when someone has clicked on them.

"When it's new and it's hot and cool people will click and the clicks will make money," said Allen Stern, editor of Center Networks.com, a tech news site. "Video is definitely a more compelling medium."

Stern created a mock-up of what he suspects the video ads could look like on his Web site.



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