YouTube Takes FreeWheel for a Spin

YouTube kicked off a test with video-ad server FreeWheel Monday that will allow partners to serve their own ads, meaning that the same ad will run with the same content whether it appears on YouTube or elsewhere, AdAge.com reported.

The technology will allow YouTube to be part of a greater network of distributors, and it opens the video-sharing site up to big-media companies already using FreeWheel, such as CBS and Warner Bros., according to AdAge.com.

YouTube director of product management Shishir Mehrotra told AdAge.com:

We are the most flexible distribution outlet that content partners have. We’re flexible in how we sell and serve ads; we’re flexible in ad formats. The more flexible we are in helping them reach their needs, the more successful they can be and the more successful we will be.

FreeWheel CEO Doug Knopper added:

The old way was you either sent the ad hard-coded or let YouTube pick the ad. Now they are giving up some control over what ads appear in content in order to get more ad revenue.

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