YouTube shows new sales potential

Videos just became more valuable to retailers. YouTube is releasing Shopping ads, a new advertising format that lets viewers click and buy products directly from videos.



Retailers and brands can place the click-to-buy ads within partner videos, paying by the user click. The functionality builds on the existing Cards feature, which lets advertisers share product information directly in videos across screens, and Trueview for shopping, which lets users dynamically insert product cards within their in-stream ads, based on the products that are most likely to lead to a conversion.



YouTube parent Google is also expanding the reach of its Brand Lit solution, which measures the lift in organic Google keyword searches related to a brand, to YouTube searches. And a new Google ad targeting product called Customer Match will include YouTube, along with Google and Gmail.



YouTube also offers an existing feature that lets advertisers operate dedicated channels that include product page links, but not click-to-buy. With other social media companies recently entering the direct buy arena, such as Twitter’s new Buy Now button and Pinterest’s recent Buyable Pins feature, YouTube is joining an increasingly crowded field of social commerce.