Cost-Per-View Ads at Google with TrueView

Google anounced the release of a new video ad format dubbed TrueView Video Ads today. TrueView givers users what I would consider total control over which advertiser's message they want to see (and when). Advertisers are going to jump on board in droves as they are only charged when a viewer has chosen to watch the ad and not when an impression is served. 

Google believes the cost-per-view video advertising model is good for everyone - it's not difficult to see why. Through TrueView Video Ads InStream (its first cost-per-view format) viewers can choose to skip a video ad after 5 seconds, and advertisers will only pay when the viewer has watched the full ad or 30 seconds, whichever is shorter.

According to Google, the early results were encouraging with view-through rates of 20-70%. View-through rate measures how many viewers have opted-in to watch an ad. The ad format is available for customers in the US and Canada and is in limited testing for advertisers in the UK. 

Google also indicated that advertisers will soon be able to use TrueView Video Ads to increase a video's view count.