While doing some market research for a client I stumbled upon this Google Adwords Video Ad Extension. Maybe I’m just a little slow on the draw but I could have sworn I didn’t hear anything about this. This is possibly because they’re supposed to have been discontinued. Strange?

You can see the official Google page here.

I took these screenshots today (March 28, 2013)

This Adwords Extension is awesome right? But just wait until you click on it.

I haven’t seen any of these ads before but, personally, I was pretty impressed. The ad extension did a great job of drawing my eye and with the play icon included in the video I could see that really helping interaction rates. From what I read on the Google Adwords Ad Innovations page they were discontinued due to low interaction rates. Strange again.

Following is what happens when you click on the ad extensions:

Holy Cow, a Video Ad Extension light box!

I know right?! Exciting stuff. ‘Discontinued Stuff’.

My Questions and Postulations on ‘Video Ad Extensions’

1. Are these traditional search ad extensions in BETA or delivered by the display network where video is used?
2. The Video Ad Extension triggers a video light box where playing the video and Google+ interaction get more attention than the generic ‘Visit official site’ link on the bottom. My thought is that this extension will find a welcome home among brand marketers but limited appeal to performance marketers.
3. Do you call this pay per click or pay per interaction?
4. Are these new Video Ad Extensions or the same ones?

Let’s Guess About Video Ad Extensions!

I’ve been trying to find the link between all of the video game publishers utilizing the ad extension. I’d like to find out what targeting method and ‘rules’ it plays by.

I’ve seen Sony Entertainment Group, Disney, Nintendo, and Red 5 Studios.

I’m not seeing a clear link between YouTube ads for the advertised games and the SERP video ads, so I think I’ll cross that out.

I’m seeing video ads triggering on ‘video game(s), video game(s) trailer(s), video game name, etc.’ What’s interesting here is that some variations trigger the ad while others don’t.

Assumption 1: Video Ad Extensions ARE Keyword targeted

I’m also seeing that there is only a single video extension appearing at a time. This doesn’t necessarily mean there is only one video extension allowed per SERP. However, I’m also seeing the video ad extension that is presented change to a different ad.

I looked into the companies that publish these games and they are not affiliated so I’m going to rule out an umbrella account rotating the ads.

Assumption 2: Only a single Video Ad Extension can appear at a time.

What are your burning questions, insights, or assumptions?