AOL has come up with what seems like a more graceful way to advertise within online video clips than the usual show-a-short-ad-before-the-main-event. According to Wired, here’s how it will work:
If you’re watching a TV show, about 10 seconds into the video, a banner ad pops up at the bottom of the window. If you want to watch the full video advertisement — or it could be a Flash ad — you click on the banner. Assuming you don’t want to watch it, you ignore it, and after 15 seconds, it dissolves.
Political campaigns haven’t much boarded the online video advertising train yet (they’ll put their own videos up, but that’s different from what we’re talking about). As less-annoying online video ad alternatives continue to evolve, buying (interactive?) ads on the web versions of popular TV shows may become a useful political tool. Yet another development to keep an eye on.
– cpd