It appears that Google’s promotional deal with movie studios is at least a double feature.
The search engine has already helped promote Sony Pictures Entertainment’s “The Da Vinci Code” with a daily ‘Code’-themed puzzle contest in the weeks leading up to the premiere.
Since that promotion ended, Google’s begun trumpeting another film, “The Break-Up,” a Universal Studios picture.
At Google Video, Google’s making a few “Break-Up” movie clips available for free, plus featuring any homemade video homages by the lovelorn.
The Break-Up promo especially could be construed as Google beginning to experiment with video advertisements. The promo is, after all, built around videos.
A move in this video ad direction certainly would make sense for Google, which needs to appease its advertisers by offering what they want. And in this case, there’s been a growing interest in video-based ads.
But at the same time, Google can’t upset its audience with something too visually intrusive. After all, Googlers are used to Spartan-looking pages and text-only ads. So a video ad may be a little too blaring for some.
Google’s making a safe bet it won’t be riling the masses in this round. These ads are, in essence, movie trailers, which the movie-going public is weaned on.
It’ll be a different story when, and if, Google ever places video ads for something other than movies.
That’s probably a long way off, but something Google’s likely to do more of. Competitive pressures alone will force it to do so. The movie promos seem a good place for Google to get started.