Clutter

New developments regarding the predicted (by others, not by me) age of a world “devoid of brand advertising as we know it:”

TV “ad clutter” was “relatively flat” in 2006, according to one recent study, with broadcast and cable channels “running an average 15 minutes of nonprogram time per hour in prime time.”

This is seen as somewhat good news: At least clutter isn’t growing at the same pace of recent years.

On the other hand, Red Herring says:

Beware YouTube watchers, ads are coming?as soon as this summer.

The video-sharing site that was acquired by Google in November is experimenting with the precise length, form, and placement of those ads, and will begin rolling them out this summer, Suzie Reider, head of advertising for YouTube, [said recently]

“We’re looking at executions like a very quick little intro preceding a video, then the video, then a commercial execution on the backside of the content,” Ms. Reider said.

The idea is to generate long-promised revenues that Google can share with the more than 1,000 “premium” content creators whose video material is available on YouTube, Ms. Reider said.