New YouTube / Google AdSense Unit?

I cannot tell if these are:- new YouTube ad-units, or - bizarre / sneaky advertiser units

... but they are appearing more and more across the Google AdSense network. The below screenshots are taken directly from advertisements appearing on my blog:

1. This is what a standard YouTube unit looks like: big play button in the upper right corner and the standard YouTube footer beneath (play, sound, progress bar and "Ads By Google logo").

2. This is an example of a different "YouTube" unit... whether official or not: an image, a smaller Play button that prominently displays "YouTube.com" and text that looks like a text AdSense unit.

3. The unit is fishy for three reasons: A. When clicking "play", it goes to the YouTube URL rather than playing in-line, and B. The unit's size is slightly off - if you highlight through the text, you notice that it scrolls within the unit (see the difference between these two screenshots) C. Google is very particular about showing the "Ads by Google" graphic... which is hidden unless you scroll down

Here are two more examples... suggesting that it is in fact a new unit:

Dockers, Volkswagen and ETrade Integrate Super Bowl Ads with Facebook Campaigns

For many, the Super Bowl is more about advertising than football (though last night's game was far better than the ads). Last night was about integrated ad campaigns: - In real-time, Dockers rain a Facebook premium ad campaign to match their Super Bowl TV spots, "Wear the Pants" - Volkswagen did the same with their VW PunchDub spot - ETrade released "Baby Outtakes" from their successful TV spots... and got thousands of "likes" within hours - Dorritos, one of the largest advertisers, ran their ads from crowd-sourced ads and creatives The days of using the internet to merely gauge ad popularity are over...

We are now in the days of using the internet (and social networks in particular) to engage beyond the thirty-second spot. Facebook, Twitter and other social mediums are enabling fully integrated, social ad units. In a way, it makes the job of the marketer easier as there is flexibility to move beyond the thirty-second constraint (of course, that does require larger, integrated campaigns and therefore more work).

This also shows the power of Facebook as an advertising platform and the role it is playing within big marketers' budgets / mindsets. Examples below:

Dockers "Wear the Pants"

The Facebook ad unit

The Facebook ad with video playing

Dockers Facebook Fan Page

The Dockers website integration

VW PunchDub

ETrade Outtakes

TechCrunch reviewed the Super Bowl ads here and FT.com did here.

Are Google Nexus One Ads Location Aware?

You may have noticed that ads for the Google Nexus One have been appearing all over my site... perhaps due to my fanboy-like coverage! Today I noticed a new version of the 728x90 unit that focuses on the Nexus One's navigational system. Notice that the ad includes directions that are relevant to my location (the Embarcadero in San Francisco). This could be the default image - but, knowing Google, I suspect that they feature directionally-relevant images for top DMAs (like San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, etc):

Doodle Jump's iPhone App Warns: "Insanely Addictive"

Most iPhone apps do not come with warnings - but Doodle Jump, the #2 paid application by Lima Sky, has built an advertising campaign around the addictive gameplay: Be warned: this game is insanely addictive!" The ad unit then cycles through anonymous iTunes reviews that highlight just how addictive the game is. Once clicked, the ads take you directly into iTunes so that you can download Doodle Jump for $0.99 and spend hours draining your iPhone's battery!

Dear John, The Facebook Ad Campaign With Everything

Earlier in the week, I got a lot of flack on Facebook for becoming a fan of the movie Dear John. I noted that it was for a purpose: my usual Facebook advertising and brand research.... and it was. The Dear John campaign is unique because it merges several of the Facebook ad formats in a way I have not yet seen before: Earlier in the week, I wrote that NBC ad campaign showcased the new 'become a fan' unit for users who RSVP'd as attending the Chuck premier. The Dear John ad behaves similarly and includes the "become a fan" and "like" functionality within the video button. Again, this is not new behavior (Chuck did it as well), but it shows significant evolution on the platform - it wasn't long ago that video, RSVP, invitations and "become a fan" ads were all separate formats and actions.

When combined, it creates a rich, comprehensive campaign that satisfies users' various interests or habits.

The ad unit as it appears in the right column

When you click the play button, the HD video plays and includes "like" and "become a fan" functionality"

When attending, you get the chance to invite friends and become a fan

Also interesting, the Dear John video units feature the actors (including Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried) speaking directly to viewers and encouraging them to become Facebook Fans. The video is also posted on the Dear John fan page and has its own public URL - but strangely, the video cannot be embedded (a probably next evolution of public content on Facebook).

The video of Channing Tatum had 2,250 likes and 275 comments:

SoBe Lifewater Spills Zero Calorie Drinks Over SportsIllustrated.com

Aggressive ad campaign by SoBe Lifewater on SportsIllustrated.com that takes over almost all of the visible screen... but it is clever and unique enough that I can stomach the takeover (at least once or twice). The ad is meant to promote the upcoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit magazine with a: - integrated campaign of the swimsuit model holding a SoBe Lifewater - a rich video preview of the 2010 swimsuit magazine - a promotion of the upcoming website launch (models, videos, photographs, etc) - a promotion for the Lifewater Facebook sweepstakes: http://www.facebook.com/sobe ... oh yeah, there is a new drink to promote: SoBe's new zero calorie flavors that are spilling over the screen (and the videos, photos, etc). There is so much going on in the campaign that it is both interesting / exciting and overwhelming. That said - and despite the commotion - the two major takeaways are clear: SoBe's branding and the upcoming swimsuit magazine. If you make it through the messaging, you might also get to the a third takeaway: SoBe's zero calorie drinks are supposedly "slimming".

NBC's Chuck Season Premier Tonight, Did You RSVP on Facebook?

NBC has been running ads on Facebook to promote the upcoming season of Chuck - airing tonight at 9pm. The ad use Facebook's event units: you can RSVP to 'attend' the event. That RSVP then appears in your feed and, if popular enough, becomes viral. This format is not new and seems to be popular with media advertisers (used to feature new releases such as movies, DVDs, etc).

But, you will see below that, depending on your RSVP, you get the option to become a Fan on their Facebook page as well. Here is the Chuck ad:

If you RSVP "Maybe" or "No", your calendar updates accordingly:

But if you RSVP "Yes", you get a confirmation spot that allows you to invite friends and become a fan. Its a small tweak but makes the units more effective and social

Zendough's Rich Ad Campaign Hits Gizmodo

Gizmodo continues to be a great example of cutting-edge rich advertising units. As I have written before, they do a great job of laying out the site in a way that gives advertisers large, interactive and cohesive advertising units across all of the content; furthermore, the units do a great job of interacting with the standard Gizmodo content (sitting beside and/or fading behind).

Here is another example of a rich campaign on Gizmodo. Much like the recent eBay "Come to Think of It" campaign, this comes from Zendough. The ads begin by taking over the "top stories" bar and then fade into the traditional Gizmodo layout (as the person walks across the screen). On the page, Zendough has five integrated units:

- the interactive "top stories" bar that fades out - the rich square in the upper right corner - the sponsored search bar - the rich skyscraper which parallels the activity above - the rich horizontal 'page-break' unit which is 8 stores down Clearly it is a custom campaign - much like the eBay one - but it is very nicely integrated within the Gizmodo layout and amongst itself: all of the units symmetrically speak to one another and therefore gently capture the audience's attention / interest.