By Michael Liedtke, Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --Online video leader YouTube has opened up its version of a home shopping network in its latest effort to wring more revenue from its massive audience and justify the $1.76 billion that Google Inc. paid for the site two years ago. In the new service, unveiled Tuesday in the United States, there will be buttons under YouTube videos to offer viewers a chance to buy music, movies, TV shows, concert tickets and other products featured or mentioned in a particular clip.
When one of the links is clicked, the YouTube viewer is taken to another Web site like Amazon.com or iTunes that’s selling a desired song or other product. YouTube will receive a commission for each completed sale.
For starters, YouTube is selling songs only from two major labels, EMI Music and Universal Music Group, and video games made by Electronic Arts Inc. But it hopes to persuade studios to peddle movies and TV shows alongside video clips.
Eventuall y, YouTube wants to expand beyond entertainment sales to create a shopping bazaar. For instance, a home-care how-to clip on YouTube might include a sales button for a lawn mower.
“This is just the first step in this adventure,” said Shishir Mehrotra, YouTube’s director of product management.
YouTube plans to expand the sales channel outside the United States, but didn’t specify a timetable for the international expansion.
The “click-to-buy” links are part of YouTube’s intensifying focus on figuring out how to profit from its popularity without alienating an audience accustomed to watching clips without the commercial interruptions that fill television airwaves. YouTube also has had to navigate thorny copyright issues that have restricted its ability to show ads.
YouTube has only had moderate success with ads so far, mostly with short commercials that appear in a small frame underneath the main video. Its revenue this year is expected to hover around $ 200 million – an amount that has been somewhat disappointing to industry analysts, given that the site attracts nearly 100 million people each month in the United States alone.
Google has been patient with YouTube, telling its shareholders that it’s more important to nurture the video site’s audience than to fret about financial targets.
YouTube has succeeded on that front. In July, the site served up about 5 billion videos in the United States, according to the latest data from comScore Inc. That was 10 times more than the runner-up, News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media, a group that includes the online hangout MySpace, which also has started to sell songs in a joint venture with major record labels.
Google hasn’t felt pressured to reap a quick return from YouTube because its main business of selling text-based ads alongside search results and other Web content is thriving, with revenue expected to surpass $20 billion this year.
Still, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has been promising YouTube will become a huge moneymaker once it finds the right advertising formula. He has gone as far as to suggest the perfect commercial approach at YouTube is “the holy grail.”
Besides introducing a platform for e-commerce, YouTube also formally announced a new player, called “Theater View,” for watching full-length videos. The new player, which began appearing on YouTube last month, looks more like a small movie screen with stage curtains on the sides. It can even be dimmed to simulate a movie theater.
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More