Are Video Ads Coming To Google Search Results?

When it comes to online advertising, Google has been a flagship platform. Its innovations have helped shape the online marketing industry and its analytics platforms have set a standard for search engines, social media channels, and other advertising platforms around the web. Because of this, whenever Google announces a new development for AdWords, marketers can’t help but get excited.

The only issue is that Google isn’t always prompt or clear with its releases. Instead, it chooses to test potential new features gradually and iteratively, carefully measuring their impact before releasing them to a wider public. A handful of avid Google watchers recently discovered one of these tests, and it could mean the spark of a major shift that many of us have anticipated for years.

Embedded Videos in Search

The idea is simple: include video-based advertisements in search, rather than the text-based ads (and occasional images) that we’ve all come to know so well. This functionality could allow videos to emerge as thumbnails, which could then be expanded upon when clicked, or could introduce auto-played videos, though it remains to be seen how the public might react to such a sudden change.

As usual with these kinds of tests, Google isn’t answering any questions or giving any hints about its future plans for the functionality.

Is Google Late to the Party?

Despite its reputation for leading the charge with new innovations, a quick look around the web suggests that Google may be the follower in this regard. Back in August, reports began to emerge that Bing and Yahoo , Google’s two closest competitors in the search world, were already testing video ads in their search results. And of course, platforms like Twitter and Facebook have been experimenting with auto-played videos and video advertisements for years. GIFs and Vines play automatically for users as they scroll down their Twitter newsfeeds, and practically any embedded videos on Facebook automatically play as well (though there are plenty of users who detest this functionality). If you look at the picture strictly in terms of who introduced the idea first, Google is late to the party.

Still, the fact that Google is incorporating video ads into its search results means that user acceptance of such an advertising medium would greatly increase, and more video ads might appear in a wider variety of mediums as a result. In this way, Google isn’t starting a trend, but instead is reinforcing—and possibly legitimizing—a trend that has already accumulated momentum.

Google’s Key Advantage

With so many different platforms already offering integrated auto-played video and video ad functionality, you might be wondering how Google could be different, or how it could offer something unique. Besides still retaining its position as the most recognized and most used search engine in the world, Google holds a key acquisition that will fuel its video advertising—YouTube.

Millions of individuals and advertisers already rely on YouTube for the majority of their video hosting needs. They have their own ads, about videos, tutorials, and other brand assets already uploaded and available as part of a social channel. Google could quickly and easily integrate videos from a YouTube account with this new video functionality, appealing to advertisers who want to save time by managing all their brand assets in one place. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Google will become the clear winner in the online video advertising game, but it does give it a key advantage.

What It Means for Advertising

Though it’s still a little early to speculate—seeing that video ads aren’t yet available for most advertisers—I’d venture to guess that as users grow more accustomed to video ads, WiFi coverage and Internet speeds increase, and more content veers away from written material toward visual material, video advertising will completely take over the online marketing arena. In order to get noticed, video ads will become a must—and within a few years, may only be the tip of the iceberg.

Today, written content functions as a kind of “entry level” medium for content marketing, with video as a more advanced, more intensive form. An upward trend in adoption, recognition, and ease of production could easily put videos into that “entry level” role, making way for an even newer medium, such as individualized content or something more interactive. Nevertheless, expect videos to show up everywhere—even more than they do now—once Google opens those floodgates.

How to Prepare in the Meantime

Even if you aren’t actively advertising online, there are measures you can take to prepare for this inevitable shift in marketing trends. Obviously, video ads (and therefore, video content) are becoming more and more important, and Google’s integration of video ads into search results will only accelerate that momentum. If videos aren’t already a part of your branding and marketing strategy, it’s time to start building a library and a process for ongoing production. Videos are more expensive and more intensive to create than other forms of content, but they will yield you better results.

Until Google discloses more details about video ads, we are left to speculate and look to other platforms of examples of where the shift is heading. No matter when Google decides to make the change, video content is on an upward trend that isn’t about to falter anytime soon.