Who needs boring football when the adverts shown during gaps in play are so much more interesting? OK, so not everyone thinks like that, but a fair proportion do. And those people will love YouTube’s new contest, which is ultimately designed to promote online video advertising.

Super Bowl Commercials 2011

The commercials which run in the advertising breaks during the Super Bowl are now just as big a part of the tradition as the actual game is. In fact, many people are more interested in the ads than they are in the actual sporting event that surrounds them.

2011 is no exception, with some amazing ads running alongside Super Bowl XLV. Thankfully it isn’t just on TV during the game that you can see these ads, with most of the brands involved seeking to make use of new media as well.

The Super Bowl commercials for 2011 are on YouTube, and the Google-owned video site is running its annual Ad Blitz contest for the fourth year in a row.

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If only all television networks could be as forward-thinking as the BBC. Then again, not all are paid for by an unavoidable tax which you can got to prison for refusing to pay. There’s always a down side.

Global Community

Most of you reading this will, at some point in the past, have watched something illegally online. We’re not talking about hardcore pornography here, but normal television programming or a mainstream movie.

The reasons for doing so vary, from price to availability, and just sheer laziness. But a big part of the problem is the way the world is divided up into territories, and each territory gets content at a different time.

That was all well and good years ago, but the Internet has changed things, and made the world a much smaller place where the idea of territorial divisions is falling apart. Unfortunately, the TV and Hollywood studios don’t seem to have realized this. At least for the most part.

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YouTube is about to take a gamble in offering viewers of long-form video content the option of choosing which advert they want to watch, when they want to watch it, or, controversially, whether they want to watch it at all.

Video Advertising

Video advertising takes many forms. From video ads embedded (often annoyingly autoplay) on sites across the Web, to viral ad campaigns such as the ones for Old Spice and Tippex, video advertising is both varied and increasingly popular.

It makes sense for sites which display online video to use video advertising. Hulu does this extremely well, but YouTube has somewhat struggled thanks to concerns over the type and legality of content on the site.

However, YouTube is confident its new approach is a good one.

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Hulu is already big, but it’s due to get even bigger over the next few years. Company CEO Jason Kilar spelled out the present statistics recently, as well as talking about advertising options and the new content suggestion feature.

Hulu On The Up

Hulu defied the cynics and survived past its first year. But it did much more than just survive, instead becoming one of the most popular online video services in the U.S., the most popular in terms of delivering on-demand, catch-up television.

Hulu has succeeded not only by enticing viewers in, but also by keeping on the good side of the networks and cable companies; a task obviously made easier by the fact that it’s run by three of the networks themselves.

However, this strategy seems to be working, with viewer numbers up and profits climbing.

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As you may have heard, or experienced if you’ve already bought a Google TV device, some of the major U.S. networks are blocking their content from appearing on the service. Which suggests a huge slab of short-sighted stupidity on their part.

Is it me or is there something fundamentally wrong here?

Google TV Launches

Google TV launched last week to a bit of a mixed reception. The price of the Logitech Revue set-top box and the range of Sony television sets was a little higher than expected, but the platform as a whole seems to be solid and user-friendly.

All connected TV platforms require one thing to succeed: Content. And that is turning out to be a problem for Google, with three of the four major U.S. networks blocking their content from Google TV for reasons as yet to be detailed.

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Move over Old Spice, Tippex has taken on the viral video advertising mantle. And while the new campaign doesn’t use social networking as the source of inspiration, it uses YouTube to its full potential.

Viral Video Advertising

Companies are becoming increasingly keen on using video technology and the viral nature of the Web to sell their products.

Viral video has the power to spread across the Internet at a rate of knots, with embeds and linking via social networking sites disseminating the message to all corners of the Web.

Some firms have taken a subtle approach, hiding the brand or product away somewhere. Others, meanwhile, have taken the more direct approach, putting the company name or product center stage.

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It’s widely believed that YouTube has yet to make a profit. But 2010 could see it making money for the first time in its history thanks to clever advertising and improved relationships with copyright owners.

YouTube

YouTube is now five years old, and has enjoyed quite a history in that short space of time.

It was approaching profitability before Google swooped into acquire the site for $1.65 billion, and the search giant has focused its attention on setting the site on a new path with longterm goals in mind rather than chasing short term profits.

Those longterm goals may be about to pay off as an improved advertising setup combines with an increasing userbase to put the site in the black for the first time.

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