The Rich Ads In Search product [from Yahoo], which goes live in the U.S. on Monday, will now allow advertisers to include images, video, and advertiser site search functions directly within search ads. Neither Google nor Microsoft, Yahoo’s major search competitors, currently offer this functionality.
via Yahoo Enables Video and Other Rich Media in Search Ads – ClickZ.
Some what unexpected but its “paid search” advertising: Viral Video-How To Get Viewers | Video Production Tips.
In what feels more like a Les Stroud self-shot video, a Vancouver, B.C. realtor video blogs his day with comments and thoughts about a lot of issues in real estate. This is “new” enough that it is certainly generating buzz for his business! Great idea and a great use of web media.
Vancouver Real Estate Video Blogs by Ian Watt.
Not all online video has to be professional quality – depending on your goals. A realtor in San Diego, CA wanders through properties with a handheld video camera making comments as he proceeds. The result is posted online.
Those who are shooting videos like this are often using cheap miniDV tape-based camcorders.
But perhaps the best solution is cheap HD cameras like the Flip Video MinoHD Camcorder, 60 Minutes (Black)
The main draw back of cameras like this is the lack of a mic input – that means you are stuck using the on board, usually okay-but-not-great audio quality mic on the camera.
These videos can be quickly edited – in some case, they may already be in an uploadable format so you can skip the edit and the encoding and just upload to YouTube.
There is little reason not be promoting your business with video – both informal and professional “formal” where needed.
I have produced a number of video presentations and cable television commercials for realtors in Washington and Idaho. In those applications – professionalism, image, narration, high quality sound track, proper lighting, camera cranes and high end production values were essential.
For example, the trend might be towards informal video for typical property listings and professional video and photography for high end luxury homes, lake front property and ranches plus professional videos that sell the realtors and the realtor’s services directly.
YouTube – Microsoft Songsmith Commercial.
But the weirdest thing is that the notebook computer used for a prop throughout the video – is an Apple Macbook Pro (plastered with stickers to sort of cover it up). It is true that you could install Windows Vista on the Macbook Pro hardware, but, uh, is this what you want for your Microsoft ad?
How do you make money with online videos? One suggestion is to sell product placement with payment apportioned by the number of views the video receives: Monetize Your YouTube Videos With Product Placement and Tadcast. Certainly an interesting idea and potentially more successful than the “in your face” pre-roll ads used by some video services.
One agency communications guy, who asked to remain nameless, went so far as to call the wide-ranging cuts in the digital media ecosystem a “bloodbath.”
Coming as they do amid large-scale headcount reductions at traditional agencies, it’s easy to view the interactive job losses as just another manifestation of the general economic chaos. However as it settles in just how drastically clients are cutting their Web spending along with the rest of the pie, the first shock is giving way to disbelief for some.
via The Ad Downturn: Why Isn’t Digital Immune? – ClickZ.
In the comments to the above article, half say their business is doing well and half say there have been big cutbacks.
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