Google has launched a new way for businesses to get people shopping through YouTube as part of its Advertising Week launches.
Marketers will be able to buy ads to run during product-focused videos, such as a review of a professional camera or someone talking about new running shoes.
The feature will let users click on a small icon that will expand to show the item’s details, such as pictures and prices.
Viewers can then click again if they want to purchase the item on the retailer’s site.
The new annotations, called “Shopping ads,” appear as a small white box in the corner of the video with an “i” information icon. When clicked, the box expands with a small picture and a headline that links to the advertiser’s website.
View a gif f the ads in action here:
The move is also a response to growing competition from Facebook, which has been investing heavily in promoting its increasingly popular video platform, and the growth of users on mobile device, to advertisers.
The feature was announced as part of Advertising Week, an annual event in New York that focuses on the latest trends and products in the ad industry.
View a video of the full annoiuncment here:
YouTube will roll out the click-to-buy service in the coming months, following similar moves by parent Google and social networks such as Facebook Instagram and Pinterest to make it easier to shop via their sites.
“YouTube has become the place the world comes to watch, share and engage with video,” the company said in the post. “And we want to keep creating even better experiences for the viewers, advertisers and creators who turn to YouTube every day.”
Google also announced it is introducing TrueView for app promotion for its in-display format.
This format of ads appears when users are exploring content on YouTube. Promotion ads are also today being enabled in YouTube’s new Gaming app.
In addition, Google announced that it is expanding its Brand Lift service to account for YouTube searches in addition to Google searches.
Brand Lift is a service that helps advertisers measure interest by monitoring lift in organic keyboard searches.