To begin, let us look at the various categories of ads on YouTube, both conventional and video:
In general, there are two types of ads on YouTube: those that are in the in-box and those that are out of the in-box. The in-box ads are the regular ones that appear at the top and bottom of the page every time you scroll down or up. These include such pop-up ads as Google AdSense and Yahoo! Search Marketing's contextual ads and Microsoft ad banners.
The out-of-box ads, meanwhile, are those that are placed at the very top of the screen. Unlike the regular ads, they do not scroll down the screen when scrolls or up when zoomed in. These include YouTube videos, Facebook videos, and even some real web pages. Since these types of ads are outside the range of standard ad formats, marketers can create creative and more engaging ad campaigns with them.
But YouTube also allows for more targeting of an individual ad. Since the video is already visible to anyone who visits YouTube, you can target your ads based on what kind of people are likely to watch the video. For example, if your brand is wine, you can run ads related to wine or vineyards. This makes it easy for you to reach people who are more likely to want to consume your product or enjoy viewing videos about wine. Advertisers also have access to demographic and geographic targeting, which makes it easier for them to come up with effective campaigns.
Meanwhile, YouTube viewers also have the option of opting out of being served ads on certain videos. If a viewer prefers to watch ads on the left side of the screen and only sees ads that are shown on the right side of the screen, he or she can choose to ignore the pre-roll ads. In addition, certain demographics are targeted by the feature known as "excluded viewers." This means that YouTube can further narrow down the target market for the ads without necessarily reducing the visibility of the product or service.
However, some advertisers have exploited the power of YouTube. One of the most common ways is through viral marketing. This refers to using specific videos to establish brand awareness. The most popular form of this is "bumper ads," wherein a video is made and posted on several sites, such as StumbleUpon, Reddit, and Facebook. These videos are then promoted across all of these social networks, which allows the advertisers to target specific audiences.
Another way to get your brand noticed is through overlaying ads on YouTube. In this campaign, an advertiser would create and upload his own original video in the format that YouTube's search engines accept, such as "How to Make Money," "How to Trade Stock," Videos You Should Be Watching." Then, he would simply embed these videos onto YouTube itself. From there, any user with an account could search for the videos and have the opportunity to see them. Through this campaign, you get the chance to reach a much wider audience than you would with a simple campaign through StumbleUpon or Facebook.
In addition, it also gives the impression of originality since your video is not like the other boring videos floating around the Internet. There is a higher chance of people searching for specific information about a particular topic when a video appears in a site focused on that topic. The same theory applies to non-skippable in-text ads. When someone searches for specific information about a product, service, or company, they are more likely to encounter a video that presents the information they seek.