Even though more viewers may be saying goodbye to traditional pay TV packages, it doesn’t mean the allure of watching video on a TV set has dissipated – in fact, for YouTube viewers it’s gaining strength – and the OTT service plans to accommodate advertisers accordingly.
In a Sunday blog post Debbie Weinstein, managing director of YouTube/Video Global Solutions, said that TV sets are the Google-owned video service’s fastest growing screen, accounting for more than 150 million hours of watch time each day.
To address this new viewing habit, YouTube in the coming months will add the TV screen as a device type to AdWords and DoubleClick Bid Manager, which already provides video advertising capabilities for PCs, smartphones and tablets.
According to the post, data based on March research by Google and Ipsos Lab experiments found that YouTube ads shown on TV drove an average lift of 47 percent for ad recall, and 35 percent lift for purchase intent.
“Today we’re introducing a new set of opportunities on YouTube to help brands reach these viewers across content and devices,” Weinstein wrote. “Now, in 2018, viewers are returning to that original, purpose-built device for video viewing – the television set.”
As part of the effort, the company is also adding access for advertisers to full length TV inventory in Google Preferred though YouTube TV, starting with the upcoming fall broadcast TV season.
“This means advertisers will be able to get both the most popular YouTube content and traditional TV content in a single campaign – plus, we’ll dynamically insert these ads, giving advertisers the ability to show relevant ads to the right audiences, rather than just showing everyone the same ad as they might on traditional TV,” Weinstein explained.
