YouTube to help Google figure out TV advertising??

Fortune mag's David Kirkpatrick, a really smart and well-informed guy, wrote an article that points out that Google's purchase of YouTube is not just an indication of the importance of user-generated content, but may be a way to figure out what kinds of ads work in TV.

This is a good analysis. Kirkpatrick notes that Google "wants to get into the business of placing ads in print, radio and television," and that YouTube can try out different video ads.

Google advertisers often try out a variety of different ads to see what works, and refine them to increase user response. Now advertisers should be able to try out different video ads to see what catches people's attention.

That may help Google and video advertisers decide what kinds of ads would work for TV, feedback that TV advertisers can't get now. "Buying YouTube will give Google a platform on which advertisers can experiment with TV ads in different forms," says Kirkpatrick.

Still, I wonder if this will also help figure out what kinds of TV programs those ads should accompany. Relevancy is important. Kirkpatrick suggests that finding ads that go well with certain types of YouTube videos may help this.

And, of course, as the Internet takes over all media transmissions, this will give Google a head start. Maybe this is a really smart acquisition after all.

And perhaps it will help keep media companies from suing Google. Bambi Francisco at Marketwatch thinks that Google and YouTube are signing so many deals with big media companies that the media giants will be more reluctant to sue.

Maybe, but all the major book publishers are signing deals with Google Print, but are still suing the company over books not covered in the deals.

Francisco also thinks that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protects YouTube even from mashups that people might make with copyrighted material.

I'm not so sure about that. You have to keep in mind that not only the studios file suit. Studios may realize that mashups and unauthorized postings help publicize video programs, but directors do NOT like losing creative control. George Lucas sued over the Phantom Edit that cut Jar-Jar Binks out of Star Wars. These guys have big egos, and they think people should only see programs the way the director created them.

I talked with Lawrence Lessig at Stanford recently, who was pessimistic about mashups being accepted. Copyright laws keep getting stronger, and courts are favoring the copyright owners in their lawsuits. He doesn't see any change in this trend (although he thinks there should be.)

Still, maybe these deals will teach media companies how to accept the changes the Internet is forcing on them.