360-degree video for YouTube was introduced earlier this year, giving users the ability to move their phones or mouse cursors to shift their POV in any direction. Within a short time major advertisers such as Coca-Cola and Nike began using the new technology to create videos for their YouTube channels with the hopes of achieving greater customer engagement.

Based on initial feedback from the videos that were posted, viewers are more likely to watch a video in its entirety when they can control the direction the camera is facing. A 360-degree Coca-Cola video celebrating the 100th anniversary of their curvy bottle had a 36% higher view-through rate than the standard, single viewpoint video. Consumer interaction and sustained attention makes advertisers happy, and Google likes to keep advertisers happy, so as of today 360-degree videos will be supported in TrueView ads on YouTube.

Bud Light is the first company to launch 360-degree ads, with three different spots featuring events from their Whatever USA promotion. They began playing today so you can expect to start seeing these spots, and other similar ones, play before watching your favorite fail-compilation and cat videos. You can watch one of the Bud Light's new 360-degree ads for yourself below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Wl9jAB45Q&feature=youtu.be

If you want to make a 360-degree video to advertise your own product or service on YouTube, you will need to use one of the cameras Google supports. The supported devices are the Ricoh Theta, Kodak SP360, Giroptic 360cam, and the IC Real Tech Allie.

So, what do you guys think? Are you more likely to watch an ad if it's in a 360-degree format? Let us know in the comments below.