YouTube goes step closer to virtual reality, introduces 360-degree viewable ads

Google has us fascinated with yet another innovation, this time around it’s advertisements and YouTube taking videos one step closer to virtual reality. Google-owned YouTube will now support 360-degree video ads on Chrome, Android and iOS. [caption id=“attachment_2360586” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screen grab from Budlight’s 360 degree advert.[/caption] According to  Google Inside AdWords blog, Beer brand Bud Light is the first advertiser to use of the new feature, which runs on Google’s TrueView ad platform. Users can use their mouse (left, right, up and down) to look around the field while using a PC, or can simply move their smartphone to shift their Point Of View 360 degrees. Cool right? The campaign puts viewers in the middle of three events from the brand’s Whatever, USA event on Catalina Island, including the  welcome parade, a DJ-ed performance by Diplo and a 1920s themed party. The company states that as soon as the ability to create 360 video became available to YouTube creators, brands immediately began experimenting with this new tool. Brands such as Coca-Cola and Nike among others have already showcased stunning videos. The 360-degree Coca-Cola video celebrating the 100th anniversary of their curvy bottle had a 36 percent higher view rate than the standard video, pointed out the report. And is better directed than the Budlight ad. Since viewers are not used to watching videos in this format it can be a little disorienting. But it definitely the next big thing in the advertising world. According to a previous report , YouTube had launched 360-degree video support on Android in March. The news was announced on YouTube Creator Blog which stated that with this feature, viewers can see the stage and the crowd of a concert or could even have a choose-your-own-adventure video where people see a different story depending on where they look. This might just revolutionise the way we watch television. Watch the advertisement here:

Here is the earlier 360 degree advertisement released by Coco Cola.