Advertisers are choosing Facebook over YouTube for their video advertising campaigns.
As I read the headline on the Luxury Daily article this morning, I was shocked. Isn’t YouTube the king of web video? Well, yes, and conspiracy theorists love to point out that video’s rise in search results coincides with Google’s purchase of YouTube (though I’m not sure that’s really quite accurate), but it really makes much more sense when you consider context and authority.
YouTube is a fantastic resource for all sorts of video, from music videos breaking new artists to home-improvement how-to tutorials to product demos, the breadth of material is nearly endless. But that video typically lacks context. Sure, a bike parts maker might have an entire channel with dozens of videos devoted to proper bike maintenance, but that’s the exception to the rule. Facebook frequently does a better job of creating some sort of context.
Often, that context is the authority created by a friend having liked or commenting on a post or an organization. And, for better or worse, your stream on Facebook is curated in some way. The more friends you have, the more overwhelming your feed may be, but with so many choices on YouTube and virtually no curation, advertisers still in better shape on Facebook in terms of having their messages viewed in a relatively “quiet” environment.
It will be interesting to see how Google / YouTube react as this trend grows. Google’s attempts at creating social networks haven’t fared well in past.
