YouTube Goes Branded

Rapidly growing video website YouTube is to launch its first "branded" channel, allowing advertisers to create sets of webpages carrying commercials as well as videos.

Warner Music Group will to be the first advertiser to use the site - with a promotional campaign for hotel heiress Paris Hilton's new album, Paris.
Advertisement for Medicalternative Medical Club

The commercial push for YouTube, which claimed it shows 100 million videos a day, has prompted speculation that the move could make it a more attractive prospect for a sale or flotation.

Previously, the site, set up by two California friends 18 months ago, has focused on providing a service for members of the public to post home-made videos rather than profit-making.

Until now, advertising has been limited, partly because advertisers were worried about being linked with inappropriate home videos, but also in a bid not to scare away its users by bombarding them with commercials.

YouTube co-founder and chief executive Chad Hurley said: "This new medium requires finding a balance between traditional online advertising and new creative approaches that engage consumers in an active way."

And the idea is already proving popular among companies keen to tap into the growing online social networking communities.

Roisin Donnelly, marketing director for Proctor and Gamble in the UK, said: "It [social networking websites] is a very exciting, emerging channel. If it is relevant and the consumer is there and the content is there, there is no reason why we would not use it in the future."

The Paris Hilton channel is believed to include advertising paid for by Fox Broadcasting - part of News Corp which owns YouTube rival MySpace - for a two-minute promotion for US TV series Prison.

Story source: scotsman.com.