Media Forum: Do ads on YouTube impress?

Will Google's new stance on display win over brands?

Google's announcement that it is going to carry display advertising on YouTube, the site it bought for dollars 1.65 billion in October 2006, may have given rise to a few smirks in the ad industry, given the search engine's historical attitude towards display ads and media agencies.

In the past, it has written off display formats at the expense of new search technology, and its relationship with media agencies took a dive last year when it replaced traditional commission payments with its unpopular Best Practice Funding scheme.

It's not surprising that Google has had to take display seriously considering the premium it paid for the site. The introduction of the new formats on YouTube, last week in the US …