Video Syndicator to Sell Its Own YouTube Ad Inventory

Video syndication and rights management company Myvideorights has signed an agreement with YouTube that allows it to sell ad inventory in and around its content on YouTube, with the Google-owned video site taking a cut of those sales.

MVR currently represents a number of rights holders, including Hat Trick Productions, Maverick TV, and ESPN. The first advertisers involved will include Nissan, Activision, and Renault. These brands already run pre-roll campaigns alongside MVR’s YouTube content. MVR said it will initially sell ads to U.K. advertisers aimed at U.K. users, but intends to roll out its offering globally “shortly.”

According MVR, the deal could be worth “millions of pounds,” owing to the fact that MVR content currently generates around 10,000,000 views a month through YouTube alone. Channel 4 currently makes use of a similar sales relationship for its U.K. inventory on YouTube, as do CBS, ABC, and Sony in the U.S.

A YouTube spokesperson said the majority of content owners still prefer to have YouTube’s sales force handle ad sales; however, he said the firm was happy to allow content owners to build out their own sales forces and bundle inventory if they so wish.

Google itself has admitted having difficulties in monetizing YouTube effectively since it purchased the site in 2006. As a result, it has been testing a range of sales relationships and ad formats in an attempt to identify the best way to squeeze revenue from it.

For example, this week it rolled out trials of a system offering users a choice of ads in long-form content. Users can choose between watching a series of short mid-stream ads, or opt to view a longer pre-roll ad instead. In addition, they can choose which ads they would rather see. YouTube also began testing pre-roll ads against content from premium U.K. partners including BBC Worldwide, National Geographic, Discovery Networks, and ITN earlier this month.