Universal Listings For AdWords?

For over two years, Google has slowly been introducing new types of content in the free organic search results.  Instead of just plain old text-only pages, they might show press releases, images, videos, or other types of content found across the web.

Today, videos on YouTube or other leading submission sites may dominate the rankings for certain keywords.  

However, up until now, this has been only for the free rankings.  Now, Google has begun testing video ads in AdWords.  All the searcher has to do is click on the "+" button below the normal listing.

Here's a snapshot of what appears when you type in, "Extract:"

At this time, it's only for major advertisers in the entertainment space to promote movies, video games, and television shows.  Google has not commented on if they plan on expanding the program to other advertisers or beyond video.

Nonetheless, the expansion of paid listings is something to watch-out for.  What's also interesting is that a click is not registered, until the visitor has viewed the video for at least 10 seconds.

You can read more about this story at:

• http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=138722