YouTube unveils new ad service

File picture: Eric Gaillard

File picture: Eric Gaillard

Published Sep 30, 2015

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San Francisco - Google’s YouTube is unveiling a new way for businesses to get people shopping through the video service.

Marketers will be able to buy advertisements to run during product-focused videos, such as a review of a professional camera or someone talking about new running shoes, YouTube said on Tuesday in a blog post.

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.

Google is investing in new ways to drive shopping-related activities on YouTube as users increasingly turn to its instructional and informational videos when they’re researching something they want to buy. Earlier this year the company unveiled a feature for its TrueView ads that lets businesses place more information on products within the video promotions.

The new YouTube offering is being announced as part of Advertising Week, an annual event in New York that focuses on the latest trends and products in the ad industry. 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 Inc.’s Instagram and Pinterest Inc. 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.”

BLOOMBERG

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