In an effort to increase their dominance of the online video space, Google has introduced a new advertising program to YouTube called buzz targeting.

Buzz targeting gives advertisers the ability to pair their in-video ads with videos that YouTube believes are on the way to becoming viral hits.

Shiva Rajaraman, YouTube Product Manager, explains the reasoning behind buzz targeting.

“One of the greatest aspects of YouTube is how it has democratized the way in which videos are discovered and promoted, on any given day, a video from a top-tier content creator or an ordinary YouTube user can become the next big thing.”

“Every advertiser hopes that their campaign will to be the next big viral hit online, and they come to YouTube to reach the millions of video viewers who are on the site everyday, Buzz targeting lets them do both at the same time. They associate their brand with the hottest content of the day, while reaching the most engaged users in our community.”

How does it work?

The program uses an algorithm to determine which videos are about to go viral. YouTube says that “the algorithm looks at several factors, such as acceleration of views, favorites, and ratings activity, and then allows advertisers to target their ads specifically to these videos on YouTube.”

YouTube and other Google sites hosted more than 4.3 billion video views in March, accounting for 38% of all U.S. video traffic. So I’m sure Google is hoping that this new feature for YouTube will pay-off and increase their dominance even more.

Related posts:

• YouTube Finally Launches Video Statistics
• The Secret Behind Popular YouTube Videos
• Americans Averaged 39 YouTube Videos in November
• YouTube Launches Anti-Piracy Filter
• Case Study: Blendtec – The Power of Viral Marketing