If you haven’t seen it, definitely worth a gander. These guys have repeatedly refused endorsements and make a living with product sales.

(Count ‘em… Ha!)

I wasnt suggesting the ad’s themselves be cut up but rather that depending on the video the ad could be placed in a different location. The creator of the video could choose where and when the ad appeared to suit the video itself. Some ad’s would work as pre-roll, some as post and some would be able to slot into the middle of the video.

That depends on the message. How long does it take to make an impression? “Ba-dah-bah-bah-bahhh, I’m lovin’ it!” Takes 3 seconds. And it says “McDonald’s” without even saying “McDonald’s.” The Yahoo! jingle takes even less time, and says just as much.

Even if creators flashed a logo or a web address for a frame or two — quite literally just enough time for the brain to register the exposure, it would still make an impression on viewers. As I mentioned above, the key is repetition.

For discussion: What if an advertiser offered YouTubers $50 per thousand subscribers to run a 3-second pre-roll on all your videos for a month? Assuming that if you have, say, 5000 subscribers, and you post 12 videos a month (estimated), that’s 60,000 impressions per month (assuming each subscriber watches every video), costing a sponsor $250. Is that worth it to a sponsor? Would you like to see a check show up in your mailbox every month if all you had to do was drag a jpeg into your video editor? For me, at least, it’s a “yes” on both.

VelvetElvis mentioned chopping up ads, and this could potentially work, but don’t forget, most companies pay a guy like Nalts who in his day job it’s his responsibility to come up with some version of the ad that would be usable. The companies themselves would be much more unlikely to want you to chop/cut up their ads if they developed and created them. They want to shape their brand, and by giving us the opportunity to slice and dice we could inadvertently end up doing something they might not necessarily approve of.

It’s awesome that Alex from Revver posted on here. I would like to say, that I think most people would be more tolerant of any kind of ads on a site like Revver than they would on YouTube. Why? Revver is a site that you go to, if you want to watch videos. YouTube is much more of a community, and I think online many more people make that distinction. YouTube gives them a much more personal experience, and they will be more guarded of what they will let in and what they won’t.

Alan says: Hah, that would kill the thumbnail game, wouldn’t it? Well, I guess the ad wouldn’t have to be exactly in the middle… or video creators would have to get better at finding the 25% and 75% marks in their vids now that YouTube allows you to choose from those three frames…

You could even put the ad in at the 75% mark, like right before the third act and then charge extra for the ad to be the thumbnail, lol.

Those of us without TiVo already endure pre- and post-roll ads constantly every time we watch TV. We’re used to it. It doesn’t hurt. It’s part of life.

FREQUENCY — Nalts, if you’re gonna make a go of this, I would suggest putting together an offer of so many dollars for so many videos sponsored, or so many weeks or months of sponsorship. Companies looking to make a lasting impression must make their brand known over time. Constant peck-peck-pecking away at consumers’ brains over months works much better than a one-off commercial. Case in point: How many ads do you remember that ran only once during last year’s Super Bowl, versus sing the Yahoo! jingle.

EXCLUSIVITY — As a sponsor, I would want as much isolation from other brands as possible, and as a creator, I’d want my content as un-cluttered as possible. Both parties should insist on it.

OTHER: Would you charge less for post-roll? Seems just as valuable to me. What about a sliding payscale for sponsorship opportunities based on creator viewership? (i.e. I’d pay more to be on Nalts’ videos with 15000+ subscribers, than on my own, with less than a hundred.) I believe there are many ways to make the viewer/creator/advertiser menage a trois work well… We’re all smart people here, let’s think about it. What about middle-of-the-video roll? As in, “We’ll be right back after this,” followed by a 3-second ad graphic. Why not? Do you think the writers of Seinfeld got upset because their “Master of Your Domain” episode had to be interrupted for a commercial break? If so, do you think they were still upset after they got their check?