Google pushes watch time as currency for Youtube as it seeks Preferred program partners
Google is touting watch time as the best metric for media buyers to be looking at when investing in ads around Youtube, and signalled it is set to pursue a “multi-agency/client strategy” for the next round of its Google Preferred program.
Bart Jenniches speaking at Youtube’s Brandcast event.
Last year GroupM was named as the beneficiary of an exclusive deal giving the agency’s clients access to the top five per cent of the most popular content on Youtube, but the fanfare surrounding that at last year’s Brandcast event earned the ire of competitors who accused Google of being “almost disrespectful” to them.
Asked if there was any announcement on whether GroupM or any other agencies were signing on for 2016 Google’s industry director Bart Jenniches told Mumbrella: “I don’t know for sure but I know that those discussions are happening with the big agencies at the moment.”
Google Preferred struggles to gain media validity in AU for two reasons: pricing – $30m year one, now $15m in year two – that says enough. And secondly, the holding groups hate Google. There is little, to no effort on the part of agency holding groups to negotiate when there are obvious product substitutes.
“I would like to see them (Australian TV networks) do more. We are not a broadcaster – we are a platform – but we think we can offer something to their own audiences to help and engage with them,” said Jenniches””
So….give us all your content, we’ll sell advertising around and maybe give you a slither of revenue in return.
The Google Deathstar in all it’s glory.