Google unveils online video ad platform

"Google announced Monday the introduction of "click-to-play" video ads. This latest move could pave the way for the search leader to garner additional ad dollars from blue-chip advertisers, which allocate sizable portions of their marketing budgets to TV...

"You're delusional if you don't think it's competition to broadcast TV", said Bill McOwen, exec VP-managing director of national broadcasting at MPG, the media unit of agency parent Havas. "All these media compete with one another." He said the most immediate impact it will have is on local newspaper and local television. "It'll draw clientele who couldn't afford cable TV, even at a local level, into using rich media. This will be the premier way to represent their product for a lot of clients. I'd be all over it...

Advertisers will be able to measure the effectiveness of their video ads by tracking video playback rates, click-through rates to their destination site, as well as how long users interact with the video, Google said."