In a money-spinning effort, popular video sharing site YouTube has included ads on its mobile site.
YouTube has been in desperate need of extra funds for awhile now, and still remains in the red.
The new mobile banner ads seem unobtrusive enough as a screenshot, but on the small screen they do actually take up a fair chunk of your screen.
“This is a great way for advertisers to reach YouTube viewers across multiple platforms,” Taylor Cascino, Strategic Partner Development Manager at YouTube said in a YouTube blog post.
“In fact, at launch YouTube will immediately provide one of the largest audiences for a mobile ad campaign anywhere on the mobile web.”
The move follows YouTube’s recent launch of pre-roll ads at the start of its videos. The pre-roll ads can be skipped, but that doesn’t mean they still don’t annoy.
YouTube is initially rolling out mobile ads in the US and Japan only, so we’re spared the ads for now.
In terms of monetisation, YouTube is targeting a platform that is becoming more popular than ever, with YouTube’s mobile site traffic expanding by 160% last year.
With Google desperate to turn the fortunes of YouTube around though, it will only be a matter of time before we have to scroll just that little bit more to see a Simpsons clip.
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Tags: ads, mobile, online video, Streaming, YouTube
