Ad-Supported Movies Now Available on YouTube
By: Ben Shapiro
Last month, YouTube began showing free, ad-supported movies. The platform started to offer titles such as “Legally Blonde” and “Terminator” in its movie section, where full length movies have been available for rent or purchase since 2011. This is the first time, however, that users can watch movies for free in exchange for commercial breaks. According to MediaPost, most of the videos feature around 10 ad breaks.
Thus far, about 100 movies have been made available for ad-supporting viewing on YouTube. Most of them are low profile titles such as “Zookeeper” and “Agent Cody Banks.” Blockbusters likely won’t be integrated until studios find a way to offer them free of charge without disrupting their current release model.
The move is beneficial for both YouTube users and advertisers alike. According to YouTube’s Director of Product Management, users have been looking for ad-supported, free movies for a few years. For brands, the move opens up the possibility of paying to sponsor individual movies and exclusive digital screenings. With users invested in the movies they are watching, the environment is an ideal fit for long form video ads, which have become more difficult to place with the rise of 6 second bumper ads.
|