I certainly can understand why YouTube is looking for ways to make some ad revenue, but having to watch an advertisement before a video just seems really annoying to me. It’s common practice on other sites, I know, but the lack of ads on YouTube always seemed to add to its charm. Hopefully, they keep them confined to a small percentage of their videos.

From AllAccess.com:
After years of regarding pirated video on YOUTUBE as a threat, some major media companies are having a change of heart, treating it instead as an advertising opportunity, reports THE NEW YORK TIMES. In the last few months, CBS, UNIVERSAL MUSIC, LIONSGATE, ELECTRONIC ARTS, and other companies have stopped prodding YOUTUBE to remove unauthorized clips of their movies, music videos, and other content and started selling advertising against them.

CBS may be the most surprising new business partner in that its sister company, VIACOM, is still pursuing its acrimonious billion-dollar copyright lawsuit against YOUTUBE’s owner, GOOGLE.

So far, the money is minimal — ads appear on only a fraction of YOUTUBE’s millions of videos — but the move suggests a possible thaw in the chilly standoff between the online video giant and media companies. Getting into the good graces of media entities is seen as critical to the future of YOUTUBE, which has struggled to show appreciable revenue for video ads.