Google launches showbiz news site on YouTube

As of October 13, "Poptub" had a modest 3,594 subscribers on YouTube. That number could climb when its GCN component begins. But for all the reach Google's advertising network has, there are critics who contend that it doesn't deliver in another crucial Madison Avenue metric: engagement.

As ubiquitous as GCN is, it's still just an ad window on a Web page a person clicks on with the intention of consuming other content. And though a Google Gadget is an interactive application, some say it doesn't enable enough interactivity with the content.

"It's the old way of doing content syndication," said Jennifer Cooper, CEO of social media company Mixercast and the former director of a similar ad network at Yahoo.

Dan Goodman, president of the digital division at Media Rights Capital -- which brought together MacFarlane, sponsor Burger King and Google for "Cavalcade" -- begs to differ. He credits GCN for driving much of the traffic to YouTube, where more than 112,000 people who watched "Cavalcade" programing signed up as subscribers to the SethComedy channel.

"One of the things we've been extremely surprised about is the community that has built around the show on YouTube," he said.

In its first three weeks, "Cavalcade" drew 14 million streams across its YouTube channel, GCN and SethComedy.com. The bulk of them are believed to have come from YouTube, but none of the parties involved would specify usage patterns beyond the 14 million figure.

"Cavalcade" is coming to the end of the 10 episodes that Burger King signed on to sponsor, but MRC is not revealing which brands will sponsor the other 40. While Goodman said those deals already are in place, the next sponsors might not show up until January. That said, "Cavalcade" will stay fresh in the meantime by releasing a few episodes sans advertiser, a convenient way of releasing a few MacFarlane creations deemed too risque to get any brand on board.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter