Which would you prefer: Watching a slightly longer than normal ad at the beginning of a video, or having three regular breaks (of 30 seconds or less) during the show? Well, if you are viewing some of the premium content on YouTube, you just might get that choice.

NewTeeVee reports that YouTube recently launched a test campaign that gives users some choices in ad type and content at the start of the video. Users can opt for either a longer pre-roll ad or the regular spots during the program. Interestingly, the pre-roll option also gives users a choice of which ad to view.

As NewTeeVee notes, Hulu has been doing something similar for some time. However, we think the YouTube trial is important because YouTube and Google are much more likely to share the results with advertisers. The data from this experiment could go a long way towards educating advertisers about what works in terms of video advertising, which is what Google needs if it ever wants YouTube to be profitable.