It’s the same YouTube you know and love…only with ads!

In a bizarre turn of events, the good folks at google have decided that they’ll try and make a little money off of YouTube, after paying almost $2 Billion for it a while back.

Imagine that. No. Wait. You don’t have to:

For now, Google will place the ads only on video clips of its content partners — the more than 1,000 small and large media companies that have licensed their videos to YouTube. By doing so, YouTube will avoid the potential liability of having ads appear on copyrighted clips it is not authorized to display. And it will also prevent ads from playing on clips generated by users whose message may not be to the liking of advertisers.

The revenue from the ads will be split between the media partner and YouTube. Ms. Naughton said Google would charge advertisers $20 for every 1,000 times the ads were displayed. Google said the ads would begin appearing today throughout the site. Ms. Naughton also said advertisers would be able to take aim at specific channels and genres, as well as demographic profiles, geography and hour of the day.

If successful, the video ads could persuade more media companies to license their content to YouTube as a way to make money from it, analysts said.

“Today, YouTube is a sunk cost for Google,” said Darren Aftahi, a securities analyst with ThinkEquity Partners. “If they can couple the proper advertising with the proper content, there is a tremendous opportunity for the company.” (New York Times: Google Aims to Make YouTube Profitable With Ads)

Sounds great for YouTube and it’s partners…but what about the viewers? According to the Gray Lady, the banners are very unobtrusive – just a little clickable banner that pops up across the bottom fifth of the screen. Viewers can click on it and be transported to the magic land of happy advertising elves, or ignore it and it will go away.

But, can they ignore it? I’m no eye doctor, but thinking back to an article on eye movements and persistence of vision from an editing course long ago…hmmm…I don’t think they can.

So, even if you ignore it – and in our ad-saturated culture, we’re getting good at it – you’re still seeing it. It’s changing the viewing experience. Will the little banners be enough to wreck the delicate balance of personal interaction we’ve come to expect from YouTube?

Or does it really matter if a little banner covers up part of this.