The new age in advertising may have arrived. YouTube will create space for advertising but no one will be required to view it. There will be ads people can select to watch on the front page, and if people are interested, they can click to a sponsor’s dedicated YouTube page. I hope it works, but I guess I should say I hope the ads work. I hope they are enticing, people enjoy them and people who want to know more about the product click on through.

NY Times: YouTube Ads to Market CD by Paris Hilton, 2006-Aug-22

Chad Hurley, the site’s co-founder, said he opposed one of the main existing models for Internet video, used on Yahoo, America Online and other popular sites, in which viewers must watch a commercial before seeing a clip they have selected. “It’s not very effective to force somebody to watch an ad,” Mr. Hurley said. “We feel it’s a much better experience to have somebody opt in,” as they would with the ads on YouTube’s front page.