YouTube fans have been living in fantasy land for a while now. Free content. No ads. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it is. Because YouTube had been hemorrhaging money since its creation. But, because of that focus on the user experience, YouTube has grown into the biggest platform of user-created video in the world, as well as become the world’s 3rd largest search engine.
…and now it’s time for Google to get paid. That’s why you’ve been seeing in-video ads for the past year. And with the release of a new advertising option called First Watch, the way you experience YouTube ads is about to change.
With First Watch, advertisers can purchase pre-roll ads that run on a user’s first view of a YouTube video each day. Now, there’s no “good” time to show someone an ad. But perhaps, upon portal entry to YouTube, one’s attention level is at the highest. And if, as a user, you know that’s the only ad you’ll have to watch all day, maybe it’s a win-win?