Yesterday Google announced that it would experiment with online video ads (activated at viewer's request) on websites that syndicate Google's "AdSense" ads. Bloggers had conflicting reactions. I was intrigued, and DVGuru raised an interesting point: "This is exciting news to me for one reason: there will be a lot more paid work for filmmakers." But TechCrunch outlined 6 reasons to "bet against it" and has already received 81 posts reacting to it.

For a sample of a video ad, see the announcement on Google's AdWords blog. One interesting note from Google that reinforces the implication of this news to small video makers: "But, you may say, video is only for big branding oriented advertisers. We beg to differ. This feature makes video ads much more accessible to all advertisers. Now, an owner of a small bed & breakfast in Lake Tahoe can put a video tour of his beautiful chalet right next to an article that talks about skiing the epic slopes of Squaw Valley."