Internet Infomercials Debut on Google During Olympics: Is TV Advertising Dead?

Google continued to dominate paid advertising with more than $1 billion in ad revenue last year. Now, it is poised to dominate online video with sponsored Internet infomercials.

Last week, Google started including video ads in search results. Anyone who googles "Olympics" or "Winter Olympics" can see what’s in store for search customers.

The results include a video thumbnail that lets a viewer watch or download a video.

Online advertisers see the writing on the wall: soon, they'll be able to add their own Internet infomercials to Google's search results and entice viewers to visit their Web sites and buy their wares.

KickStartMedia.com, a startup company in San Diego, has a head start selling tools that teach businesses and entrepreneurs how to make their own Internet infomercials with one goal in mind: converting viewers into buyers.

Mike Koenigs and Rocket Helstrom released the Internet Infomercial Toolkit in early 2006. A combination of DVDs, audio CDs and online tools gives clients everything they need to make sales-driving Web videos.

"Besides our package, all the customer needs is a camcorder or Webcam, some off-the-shelf software and a laptop to make infomercials. It’s really small business budget-friendly,” says Helstrom.

Koenigs adds, "The TV infomercial industry has generated more than $100 billion of sales over the past 20 years. We’ve adapted the same formula to sell products and services online.”

“We give our customers step-by-step instructions and push-button software that writes a script in minutes. If you can use a camcorder, Web browser and word processor, you can put an Internet infomercial online."

Koenigs and Helstrom should know. The Internet Infomercial Toolkit sold hundreds of copies in a couple of days with only word-of-mouth advertising.

"In the near future, we'll be watching Internet infomercials on our computers, video iPods, PDAs and cell phones,” Helstrom says. “The programming might be disguised as television, but the programs will educate, entertain and inform watchers, eventually driving them to Web sites to buy sponsors' products and services."

Why the sudden surge and interest in Internet infomercials? Three key trends are fueling this paradigm shift:

1. The rapid adoption of broadband delivery to wired and wireless users. More than 75% of all U.S. Internet homes now have broadband access. New cell phones can display video. Podcasting even enables consumers to download video and carry it with them for convenient consumption. Last quarter, Apple sold over 12 million iPods (many with video capabilities) and more are being sold every quarter.
2. The technology to make Internet infomercials is affordable and easy to operate. Online entrepreneurs and small businesses are realizing they can make Internet infomercials with equipment and software that costs less than $1,000.
3. Web video hosting and delivery is rapidly becoming a commodity. In some cases, it is even free. Google's new video program allows anyone to upload and display video at no charge, eventually hoping to cash in by selling video content and online advertising.

For more insights about Internet infomercials, interested businesses can download a free report, "How Internet Infomercials Will Transform Your Business," from www.InfomercialToolkit.com.

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For additional information and details about the Internet Infomercial Toolkit, visit www.InfomercialToolkit.com or call 800-795-5417.

KickStartMedia.com develops and sells DVD and computer-based training courses that teach small business owners and entrepreneurs how to turn their web sites into online businesses that convert visitors into buyers.

Its programs and software are available to a worldwide audience directly from their web site at www.InfomercialToolkit.com.


The Internet Infomercial Toolkit Copyright ©2005-2006 Kazzoe, LLC.