Google unleashes even more ads, now in video
Google has launched AdSense for Video, enabling Web sites another way to push ads in our faces.
I'm not complaining...well, actually I am. The ads don't offer much, except more distraction to already ad-filled Web sites.
Viewing the ads on My Damn Channel, for instance, you can't always tell an ad from actual entertainment content. I know the lines between advertising and entertainment are blurring. But this seems like overkill. There are banner ads on the sides, top, and bottom of the page. There are text ads on the sides and the same text ads are now rotating as overlays on top of the video I'm watching, covering up a swath at the bottom of the screen and interfering with the action.
The ads are a distraction, not an enhancement, to an otherwise great program. My Damn Channel's "Horrible People" is a funny online sitcom and well worth checking out. But this can't be the best way to monetize it--with ads I can already see elsewhere on the page.
And where's the context? The ads are for film producers, a commercial director, Burbank sound stages, and women's shoes. Nothing there that would appeal to a general comedy-watching Internet user like myself.
The best thing about the ads are the little "X" in the corner that you can click to make them go away.
Google AdSense for Video puts text ads on top of videos, but it looks like ever more ad clutter on some sites.
(Credit: My Damn Channel)
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 and previously covered search, online advertising, and portals. E-mail Elinor.
