The trend of online advertising has steadily increased as companies continually recognize its value. Just this week, eMarketer reported that U.S. Internet advertising will increase more than 33 percent in 2006 from a year earlier, which is the fastest pace this decade. In addition to that, marketers are developing new, innovative ways to advertise online, such as placing ads within video clips, creating ones that are less intrusive and more user-interactive, allowing for heightened viewer responsiveness.

Online competitors Google and Yahoo! released new advertising campaigns last week, unveiling video user-integrated strategies of their own. While Google’s, takes the user on a cyber car shopping experience, Yahoo’s integrates a 15-30-second commercial after each viral video, making it the first time it has incorporated advertisements with user-produced material.

It’s exciting to see what other search engine providers are developing on the video advertising front, especially as we are in the process of completing our own platform, which we think adds unique benefits to advertisers and content publishers. Stay tuned for details on the launch of ours shortly!