Link in video overlay

Today YouTube releases the Call-to-Action Overlay, a semi-transparent pop-up that enables advertisers to link viewers to any site they wish. For example, a company supporting a charity can send users watching a certain video to their charity subsite.

Prior to this inclusion, advertisers that wished to drive users off YouTube had to include a link in the summary on the right-hand side of the video.

TechCrunch acknowledges the move is a major one, and likely a scary one, for a site that thrives primarily on views. But YouTube has made efforts to mitigate the negative effects of driving traffic off-site.

You can only place customized overlays on videos entered into YouTube's CPC Promoted Videos program, for example; and while the Call-to-Action service doesn't cost extra, clients must be paying YouTube advertisers.

The service has been in quiet testing with certain partners and non-profits, such as charity:water, which raised $10,000 in one day via a video-overlay.

For marketers, the idea is just as potentially lucrative: they can link classic and currently-running commercials back to products they're selling; or draw attention to existing campaigns or discounts.

Earlier this month, YouTube made it possible for its users to directly syndicate recently uploaded videos to other social networks through its system.