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Why You Should Be Using Google’s AdWords For Video

Posted by Andrea Keating on January 11, 2013

Internet video has seen explosive growth in recent years. YouTube is now in on the game. In April, it introduced Google AdWords for Video, which gives advertisers another channel to capitalize on the video boom.

AdWords for Video follows the same logic as Google’s text-based AdWords. Google has an 83 percent worldwide market share of search engine traffic (which according to research by Netmarketshare.com rises to 95 percent among people who use Google’s browser, Chrome)—that puts Google in the perfect position to expand its reach into the video realm.

What the researchers are saying:

InternetRetailer.com: In a survey released in August, 63 percent of businesses polled said that their Google Organic rankings had seen a substantial change in 2012 by fundamentally altering the traffic to their website. The survey also indicated that 51 percent of the businesses polled said they intend to increase their spending on Google AdWords advertising in the year to come.

eMarketer: According to a 2012 report, search marketing is still considered a top priority—but online video is surging in popularity, with a 34.3 percent compounded annual growth rate. In Canada alone, video ad spending was expected to increase 67.2 percent, representing a $142 million industry in the country.

US Department of Commerce: Indeed, US e-commerce sales reached $56.99 billion in the third quarter, up 17.3 percent from $48.59 billion for the same period a year ago. With shopping online booming, advertising online is an essential strategy for companies—especially the larger ones.

AdGooroo: Although about 96 percent of pay-per-click advertisers spend less than $10,000 a month, big-budget advertisers spend hundreds of times more.

The New York Times: In the last three years, online advertising has become a standard channel for large companies. In the first half of 2012, Amazon reportedly spent $54 million, and the University of Phoenix $37.9 million.

Google is putting its money where its AdWords for Video is

With the goal of encouraging 500,000 new businesses to try video advertising, the company is giving $50 million in free Google AdWords advertising credits, worth $75 per account.

Google also appointed nine business ambassadors who are willing to go public with their stories of how video ads have worked for them.

According to YouTube group product manager Baljeet Singh: “[Companies] can promote their video by keyword to appear in YouTube search results, or you can choose to show your ad against content your customers are most interested in—such as sports or music. On average, we’ve found that YouTube video ads drive a 20 percent increase in traffic to your website and a 5 percent increase in searches for your business.”

Watch this video to see how Adwords for Video can work for you.

Google AdWords for Video:

1. Keywords allow a company’s video ad to appear during relevant video searches.
2. Companies only pay for the targeted video ads that people actually view.
3. Companies have access to detailed information about how, when, and where their ads were viewed.
4. Should a user skip your video ad (by pressing the skip button) in the first 30 seconds or before the end of your video ad, you will not be charged.
5. If your ad runs over 30 seconds, you will be charged a cost-per-view at the 30-second mark.
6. Four types of ad formats let users determine where your ad appears on YouTube and the Google Display Network (GDN): In-stream, In-search, In-slate, In-display.
7. These formats control whether you want your video ad to appear as a pre-roll to other videos, in search results, at the end of other videos, or in the related videos section.

Are your camera crews utilizing Adwords for video? It’s pretty clear that if you are, in any way shape or form, using video then you should be utilizing Google Adwords for video.