Goodbye to Google video ads

Google has decided to remove it’s ‘Video Units’ from AdSense. According to an official blog posting, the decision was taken after it was found to have lesser impact than had been expected.

What this means is that video units, which used to show YouTube content, underperformed with AdSense and the result is retirement!

So, as of the end of April 2009, this feature will be completely removed from the Google AdSense program and after that any remaining video units on AdSense publisher’s web pages will either direct users to YouTube.com or start showing top YouTube videos. From those videos you are not going earn a cent though.

That’s why Google recommends removing those video unit codes from your web pages as soon as possible. What about your past earnings? Don’t worry your pending earnings will be credited to your AdSense account.


Personally I don’t like video ads too much, though it was a big hit for some people. What was really disappointing, was you couldn't select specific videos to show on your page to earn your cash, The video units used to display two types of ads: companion ads, which appear in the player above the video content, or text overlay ads, which appears in the bottom 20% of the video content when it is played. The idea was a good one, on paper anyways, Make some money while entertaining your viewer. But, some people finds those ads annoying while viewing a video. They simply passes away, which ultimately may harm your income.

In my view, retiring video units was a good decision. Now you will get some extra ad space on your web pages, which you can optimize to display other ad units and make money online. Go and remove those video unit codes from your website or blog and find a suitable replacement for it. Initially you can try using other AdSense for Content ad formats.