Google (GOOG) adds YouTube videos to Google Earth

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) had a killer product years ago after launching the awesome Google Earth software product for free to the masses. Many of us wondered (again) how the company was going to make money while giving away such great products. Recently, Google launched an enhanced, fee-based version of Google Earth that answered this question.

It comes as no surprise that one of the world's largest advertising companies (yes, Google) would leverage the globally known YouTube video-sharing site into many of its other properties as it experiments with adding advertisements into videos hosted there (in them, before them, etc.). YouTube has to be worth its billion-dollar asking price, after all, and it seems natural to let Google Earth users enjoy video clips from areas across the globe. Visit Africa on Google Earth, for example, and you may see links to YouTube videos on safari expeditions.

Google Maps already has this kind of integration. Search for an address, and you'll be presented with text links to nearby hotels, eateries, etc. The same goes for Google Gmail users. If Gmail senses that an incoming email deals with travel, it will supply travel links next to that email as you read it. Integrative and context-sensitive advertising is where the future of marketing is, and Google knows this. Video integration is only the latest step.