Don't rape the video! Some ads I like, but when I'm watching streaming media, I don't want any ads. While we're on the subject, I wish the ads on my pop-ups could be more relevant! No babies, more naked models, more gadgets, less insurance and banking, no naked men, and no fashion... I could go on

xenobyte72

I think they should be able to plaster the entire page with ads that I will block, and after the video is showed have a little advert show in the "next video" menu.

metaslugx

Before or after is better. I just started using hulu and tried watching a movie on it. Besides the fact that it took forever and I saw 'buffering' more often then not, the ads that came during the video bugged the heck out of me, especially considering they had no buffering issues. I didn't find the stuff on hulu to be that high of quality either, maybe i just watched the wrong stuff though?

I was more surprised to see the live debate last night have ads at the beginning of it. I started watching late to begin with and knowing I was missing more time from it didn't make me very enticed to watch any other live stuff from hulu...

etnie21

I agree with Brad N. They can fill the entire space around the video with all the ads they want. But I have no patience for ads in the video itself.

jordanthegreat

I'd rather have the player be altered to have a "fade in/fade out" rotating banner ad (preferably not an overlay on the video) than to actually alter the content of the video. Small, one line, text ad.

I'm all for ads being used to pay for stuff that I don't want to pay for myself, but the key is for them to not be obnoxious.

Pop-ups, pop-unders, flash ads (especially when the close button is hidden), etc. are a bane on the existence of web users (I know, savvy users have ad-block, but not everyone has that option on every computer they use).

SQLGuru

Hulu can afford to have ads - they are showing (generally) studio-quality content. If my aunt Sal's videoblog has a Walmart commercial as a 90-second opener (even with all those low, low prices) I'm going to kick my Utube-habit real quick. And no, I'm not cool with those animated ads at the bottom of the video frame either.

ub

If there is an ad in any part of the video, I stop watching. I don't have the patience for it. I'm perfectly fine with Google filling the entire space around the video with advertising, but I want the video to just contain the content I'm looking for. This is why I stopped watching anything on Hulu and just started getting everything via bittorrent.

Brad N.

If there were/are adds, they should be added before or after the video. Placing adds in the middle of a video is retarded (although ironically effective).

Users want to watch their youtube without interruptions. I think it's fair to say that if I started getting adds in the middle of watching a concert on youtube, I would no longer use the service - it's gimmicky and dirty.

evangelistc01

I think links on the side are fine, but lately I've been seeing ads popping up over the video and I really, really hate that. They've also started allowing people to add little comments over parts of the video or something and I find that equally annoying. Anything that isn't part of the video shouldn't show up in the video's space.

thebigcheese

i actually think them adding the click to buy links on a video's page is a great idea. if i'm watching a video of gameplay footage, and it looks fun, i like the idea of having a quick way to check out the price of a game right there. commercials after a video is fine (since i can just close the page after i watch the content part).

a single, short commercial between segments on full length tv shows (ala hulu) is actually not that aggravating to me, considering i don't pay for cable tv. i usually just torrent a show i like, but if it's something i want to watch 'now', i can tolerate a short commercial.

what i want to see is ad revenue kicked back to the owners of original content on youtube. if you create a video that becomes the newest internet sensation, and google's making a killing off the ads, the creator should see some of that money.

MobileMilitia

@Tony Bullard: I wholly agree. Several TV shows that I used to download I now gladly watch on ad-supported Hulu. I find that the commercial breaks on hulu seem to be shorter than those broadcast on the networks.

kflott

I quickly tire of any site where I have to watch a 10-30 second commercial before I can see a 2 minute video. The "advertising to content" ratio on many sites is practically one to one, which puts even network TV to shame. If I click on a video and it says "your video will start right after this commercial message", I just click away. I particularly get steamed when presented with an advertisement just so you I can watch a movie trailer, which is AN ADVERTISEMENT!

I have no problem with links or small graphics around the video, as long as the video itself starts right up and in uninterrupted.

jsmorley

I can live with any add that isnt on the actual video, i hate the embedded ones.

Thanatos

It's all about content. HD TV show like Hulu, yes ads. 5 second clip of a guy getting kicked in the nuts, no ads.
TV currently has just under a 3:1 ratio of show to ads. I personally think that's too much as it is, but YouTube and the like should probably avoid going anywhere near that.

Tony Bullard

I'm curious about the other-side of the coin - what ads are advertisers willing to buy? An ad that drives the user away probably isn't doing anyone any good. But an ad designed to be completely and easily ignored - that probably isn't providing the return-on-investment the advertiser's paying for, either.

Clippy

I'm fine with ads, as long as they aren't in the video itself. Nothing is more annoying than clicking a movie to watch just to wait 30 more seconds before you actually get to see it.

Boba.Fett

Are you listening Google? I know you are! *pulls tinfoil hat down a tad lower* Don't screw up the videos by putting ads in them. We will all quit youtube.

PunkMunkey

people buy spore?

Phoshi

"Beg the question" does not mean "Raise the question." It is a logical fallacy. Read more about it here: [www.fallacyfiles.org]

No, I do not care that one might think I'm being pedantic. This is a ridiculously easy error to correct.

happinessiseasy

Youtube has been streaming slow everywhere ive been for me recently so that's already a -1 and then i haven't found an option that auto-turns off annotations at the start of a video unless i want them on.

A text add like that is fine.

Mrobinson587

If there were ads, they would probably be placed at the beggining. I'd stop using Youtube inmediately if they put ads at the beggining or middle.

hardskapunk

I don't mind non interactive ads and non flashy ads but when they force me to interact with them or show up in the video itself....this makes me angry.

Gokuhouse

If Google was smart, they would add the option to purchase items based on the video content. eg; I'm watching a music video for Genesis, it could show the option to purchase the song from Amazon/iTunes/etc.

This could go even further, to where the producer of a video could "search" a store for a product related to their video (eg; They used a iPod Touch in their video, so it would allow them to "sell" the item as part of their video) and add it to the ads for the page and even earn revenue from the sales.

JadoJodo

Anything that messes with the video will make me stop watching. I can deal with ads anywhere else on the page, but don't screw with the video.

HeffeD

Are they going to share revenue with the content creator? Is the advertising "opt in" only with permission of the content creator?

If not, no advertising at all, anywhere in the video, before or after the video, or anywhere on the webpage that the video appears.

John
www.HistoricHomeWorks.com

johnleeke

Ads? There's been a long time I don't see one.

guimialfaro

@Brad N.: Hey, remember that time I totally closed my HTML italics code? That was awesome.

Brad N.

What I would love to see from Hulu, and possibly some of the sponsored content on YouTube, is a summary screen at the end of the video with links to purchase songs/products featured in the video. Hulu could have a page saying "Songs featured in this episode:" and have Amazon links to the MP3's. Or "Wardrobe Provided By:" with a link to a designer's storefront. Likewise with music videos on YouTube, or DVD links at the end of trailers for movies that are available on DVD (or related titles, like having a link to the DVD of Casino Royale at the end of the Quantum of Solace trailer). Something that directly ties into what was viewed. Any other ads are just annoying, and inspire more spite than interest on the part of the consumer.

Brad N.

Basically, anything that gives you the options not to look at it. I can ignore text, not look at an image, and click the "skip this ad" button on a re-direct. When they insert videos that I can't skip, thats when I get peeved off.

Unless, of course, I am streaming a TV show from a network's website. If I would have to pay for it otherwise, I am more than willing to pop open a new tab and read my email while the video plays before I get to where I want to be.

Dragonis

Have the producers upload the commercials directly to Youtube, then let the users decide whether they want to watch them or not. Have the officially registered ads show up as text links on the same page as most videos, and then have those links point to a product video on Youtube.

Even better would be to add a separate "related videos" element to the page, with an included thumbnail or even thumbnail-sized live video of the ad (again, linking to a full-sized ad/product page) play by default. Such ads wouldn't get in the way of actual page content, but they would still have a significant presence on the page.

Styyl

@happinessiseasy:

The author of the page you direct us to even concedes that the common understanding of the phrase is just as it being used here. Technically, he only concedes it with regards to editors and journalists. But since those folks are using it to address a larger audience, then surely it follows that larger audience understands its meaning in the same way the journalist and editor does.

I'm sure you are aware of a great deal of phrases and words present in modern language that have arrived from misuse or mistranslation of other words.

jupiterthunder

An ad before or after a video clip is bearable to me, especially if It helps keep content free. What I cannot stand is for a show to have an ad before, and to have the SAME ad interupt to video/show multiple times (I am talking about you, NBC.com). For a site offering full, studio quality episodes online for free, I don't mind ad interuptions, but if it is the SAME ad 5 times that is really annoying.

cryptomega

Guess I'm in the minority because ads are of no bother to me no matter where they are positioned relative to a video, be it on Youtube or anywhere else. Especially Youtube since it is largely full of junk that is of less value that the most advertisements.

jupiterthunder

[www.youtube.com]

aperson

The only type of ads I can stand are the ones that are directly related to the content, and even then they're not likely to get a purchase from me until DRM is completely annihilated.

The rest I prevent from even loading through my hosts file, and if a video site were filled with ads (overlays or the kind that play at the beginning, middle, or end of a video) I wouldn't be visiting that site anymore.

Sebastian

sebastianlewis

Ads that don't interfere with Happy Slip would be OK.

Capone

@JadoJodo: Much too much work, man. The cost of man hours alone would probably out weigh any income revenue from the ads, and an alogrhythm can never be as accurate as any human, no matter ho uncultured.

Linkz57

Agree with UB 100%

And while a 10 second add after a video might be ok, I only need a few more reasons to main vimeo or even reever. Hulu gets away with it's addtastic strategies because of the premium content. Laughing Baby beats the Scorpion King in terms of quality writing and sheer entertainment, but Hulu still has feature length for free. And hey, as long as it's not as invasive as Joost was, it's still usable.

Linkz57

@xenobyte72: one could almost get the impression that you are telegraphing that you are a Heterosexual male.

I'm Waitin' for Dolemite

A good option would be to show an before-clip-ad for every 3rd/4th/5th, ... video you watch.

This way they would still be attractive to advertisers but a lesser pain for the users than having to watch an ad before EVERY clip.

eclaw

@jupiterthunder: In addition, you must not have read far enough down the page: "This is a confusing usage which is apparently based upon a literal misreading of the phrase "begs the question". It should be avoided, and must be distinguished from its use to refer to the fallacy."

happinessiseasy

@jupiterthunder: That's a very weak argument, and really nothing more than an excuse not to learn the correct usage. Yes, language changes. But there is a need for the phrase "beg the question" in logic. There is no replacement for that phrase if it gets hijacked. What's wrong with simply saying "raises the question"?

happinessiseasy

I kind of like the idea of the "buy this song" links on youtube. Not that I think I would ever buy something from it, but I definitely see that many people would.

On youtube, and any other websites, I often enjoy google's (mostly) relevant text ads. I won't go to a website that has animated or moving ads, unless I can block them with adblock.

aliencam

As Google starts showing full-length TV shows on YouTube, I think the advertising system is going to change. In order for the site to stick around, it has to advertise; it's just not self-sufficient otherwise. In-line ads are one thing, but most people don't seem willing to put up with interruption ads during a 2 minute video. But for me, I'm willing to put up with some ads, for two reasons:

1. It means the site can stay up and running, and actually do business.
2. It means that content providers (i.e. movie and TV networks) are going to be more likely to post their own content on YouTube if there's an obvious way of making money.

The only way for YouTube to become the real one-stop video portal that it could be is to figure out a way to practically and permanently monetize, and I'm willing to live with the minimal ad intrusion to make that happen.

davep3355