What do you do for an encore once you’ve built the largest contextual advertising network on the Web? Apparently in Google’s case, use it to air cartoons. According to The New York Times, the Google Content Network will soon launch, debuting with short webisodes of a show called “Cavalcade” developed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.
The potential for this type of system is pretty massive because everyone wins. Publishers serve something way more interesting than a typical banner or text ad, advertisers get to reach their target audience with video, and Google gets more data based on how the shows perform on different web sites. Also, video ads traditionally have much higher CPMs than text or display ads, meaning it’s potentially a lot more money that can be pumped through the AdSense ecosystem if the format proves successful.