YouTube
In 2006, internet powerhouse Google purchased a video streaming and sharing website YouTube for $1.65 Billion (Sorkin, 2006). According to HootSuite.com, the video website averages 2 billion monthly users and in the U.S. alone will make $5.5 Billion in advertising money. Due to the acquisition by Google, they have been able to turn YouTube into an advertising machine, which has almost become a routine part of watching videos on the platform.
I personally spend more of my time watching YouTube than traditional television, or even streaming services like Netflix. I love the aspect that videos are created by real people who are sharing their life, passions, interests, and more with a huge audience. You being to feel an investment in these people, and they become a part of your life. YouTubers have also become a certain type of celebrity where some are as famous as movie stars. It has also become a way for normal people to earn an income doing something they love and sharing it. However in order to help the people who create the content for the platform, they need compensation which is where the advertisements come in.
Watching ads is almost second nature to me on YouTube. Whenever I click on a video I anticipate that I am going to be watching one ad, and possibly two. The beauty of advertisements on YouTube however is in the fact that you usually have the ability to skip them after 5-10 seconds. These advertisements are called “skippable in-stream ads.” If I really love the YouTuber who’s video I am watching, I will usually let the ads play through entirely, because I believe they receive more money and I want to support them. There are two other types of advertisements that will be found as well, “non-skippable ads,” and “banner or display ads.” YouTube also allows creators to include more than one advertisement in their video as long as the video is longer than 10 minutes, which encourages them to create higher quality content for viewers.
As the content that you are watching on YouTube can be very niche, I find that the advertisements are very targeted to my interests. Also since YouTube is owned by Google, and I am logged into the website with my Google account, I believe they are able to tailor advertisements to me even more. While I have purchased items from other social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, I have never taken action from a YouTube ad that required purchase. Especially in the time of the election, I have found that most of my ads have been related to candidates in Nevada where I live, as well as presidential candidates. My favorite advertisements that I am shown are movie trailers. As I mentioned earlier, I do not watch much television, so I appreciate being shown upcoming movies as I love going to the theater. Overall, I do not feel that advertisements are very effective on me as a consumer on YouTube, but as a platform I really love that it has created jobs for thousands of people, and entertains billions of people who come to be entertained, learn a new skill, and more.
References
23 YouTube Statistics that Matter to Marketers in 2020. (2020, January 13). Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers/
The Complete Guide to YouTube Ads for Marketers. (2020, July 20). Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-advertising/
Sorkin, A. (2006, October 09). Google to Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/business/09cnd-deal.html
christiannedreyersinfo.data.blog 