Google to Sell Music Through Youtube

Youtube is adding "click-to-buy" links to the watch pages of YouTube videos, allowing users to buy products like songs and video games related to the content they're watching on the site.

The annoucnement was made by Google on Thusday, adding that it is launching the beta version of "Adsense in Games," a technology designed to put relevant advertising links in Web-based games.

"Click-to-buy" on Youtube
Youtube will start to sell music and video games and experiment with new advertising formats to grow revenue.

The Google-owned business is taking the first steps toward building an e-commerce service through which it will sell music, films, TV shows, video games, books, concert tickets and other media-related products featured on the millions of videos on YouTube.

Youtube videos will feature a "click-to-buy" link to the watch pages, placed on the watch page beneath the video with the other community features. Visitors to YouTube.com can buy songs from music videos they watch on the site by clicking on buttons that take them either to Amazon's MP3 store or Apple's iTunes store.

YouTube users will also be able to buy video games, such as Electronic Arts's sci-fi game "Spore" through the Amazon link (Video)

Amazon and iTunes will share revenue with YouTube when users buy content through the partnership.

One format with which YouTube is experimenting is InVideo advertising, which runs text ads along the bottom of videos as they play. Other formats include contests sponsored by advertisers and home page video ads.

YouTube executives said pre-roll advertising, where a 10 to 20 second ad runs before a video starts, is not always the best format for some of the shorter video clips on YouTube. But they did not rule out using pre-roll ads altogether.

The company is also betting that its video ID system will help drive advertising. Video ID enables content owners, such as music and TV producers, to know when copies of their video clips are uploaded to YouTube by users, YouTube said. The content owners can then share in advertising generated around that copied clip.

The content owner could also use the video ID system to remove the videos.

AdSense for Games
Google also announced on Wednesday it is launching the beta version of "Adsense in Games," a technology designed to put relevant advertising links in Web-based games.

Developing new ways for game publishers to earn revenue, AdSense for Games integrates video advertisements into web-based games, complemented by text and image ads. Google said that it has been working with select game developers and publishers including Konami, Playfish, Zynga, Demand Media, games network Mochi Media, as well as beta advertisers such as Esurance, Sprint, and Sony Pictures.

For instance, in anticipation of a sporting event, an advertiser can use the technology of AdSense for Games to feature its logo within that sports event's accompanying online game and reach its relevant demographic as a result.

AdSense for Games delivers video ads based on intended placements, as well as image or text ads based on contextual targeting with keywords and tags supplied by developers and publishers. Advertisers are charged on a cost-per-impression or cost-per-click basis, and ad revenue is split between Google and game developers or publishers.

AdSense for Games is currently available in beta to select partners in the U.S.

Google's entry into the gaming space has long been anticipated. The company bought Adscape Media, an in-game advertising company, in early 2007, less than a year after Microsoft Corp. in-game ad company Massive Inc. Yahoo already offers ad-supported, downloadable games.