YouTube: The second largest search portal in the world
I guess we learn something new everyday. Today I learned that YouTube was the second largest search engine in the world. This was reported by ComScore last fall, but since I just found out its news to me. Not only does this have a large impact on marketers, it shows where consumers are spending their time. This makes me wonder how Google is monetizing this audience. Currently companies can host their own YouTube pages so that if you search for something like “Evian Babies” you’re directed to the search results on Evians Youtube page. In addition, marketers can target by behavior groups, but these groups are based on behavior, not necessarily content searches.
YouTube should be indexed like the Google Content Network. So that if a user searches “LOL Cats” in addition to their funny cat video results, they are also served relevant ads (Insert PetSmart Ad here). I know everyone is trying to find a way to get around the online display ad, but research has shown that relevant ads targeted to users are not only effective, but also garner a higher CTR. As a user, I always prefer relevant ads and as a marketer I’d love to reach people when they are searching for something relevant to my offerings. I’m sure its right around the corner, but for now I’ll suffer through the ‘Fat Belly’ and ‘Obama wants moms to go back to school’ ads.
