The New York Times reports Google will be teaming up with the creator of the US cartoon series Family Guy to distribute short original episodes of a show called Seth MacFarlanes Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy."* The first news of this came in last year already. Instead of creating a new microsite where people can view these episodes, in this model the new cartoons will be shown in AdSense spots, those automated Google ads third-party webmasters include on their sites. From the NYT:

Advertising will be incorporated into the clips in varying ways. In some cases, there will be preroll ads, which ask viewers to sit through a TV-style commercial before getting to the video. Some advertisers may opt for a banner to be placed at the bottom of the video clip or a simple brought to you by note at the beginning.

The NYT later says:

Each installment is different, but a typical one is titled Mad Cow Disease. The clip, which is 38 seconds long, opens with a news anchor reporting on an outbreak of mad cow disease in a dry fashion, detailing the debilitating effects of eating tainted beef. The clip cuts to a shocked male and female cow seated in a tidy kitchen with giant steaks on their plates.

Revenue from these ads will then be shared among the webmaster, the cartoon creator Seth MacFarlance (pictured above), the production company Media Rights Capital, and Google. A spokesperson from Google, the company who once said they dont pre-announce products and whose self-proclaimed core values include Think and act like an underdog, is quoted with the majestic statement We feel that we have recreated the mass media... but I suppose well first have to see how well this model works.

-Thanks Colin! Photo by Eric Appel with some rights reserved.-

*"Cavalcade means A ceremonial procession or display or A succession or series, Answers.com says. It also means A procession of riders or horse-drawn carriages, from the Italian cavalcare, to ride on horseback.

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