Update: YouTube has sent us the following statement: "Our policy on burning-in ads has not changed. We've had policies in place for a while now that prohibit creators burning-in ads to their content. Recently we added a question to our helpcenter to more accurately reflect our existing policy." Feb 25th 2015: YouTube has banned the use graphical title cards, which includes the use of sponsor logos and product branding in videos, unless the sponsor pays Google to advertise on a particular channel, according to a revised FAQ document. The move is likely to hit multi-channel networks and YouTube Stars as their sponsors will now have to pay Google a cut directly for the use of their logos in video overlays. Although YouTube has banned the use of sponsored logos, it says that video creators can creators can still add “text-only title cards where there is Paid Product Placement for the purpose of paid product disclosure only." Digiday reports that a YouTube representative said that the changes were aimed at preventing advertiser conflicts and ensure viewers don’t feel bombarded by ads. Digiday also adds that YouTube has created a new ad unit called "product card" which is a six second pre-roll spot which appears before the main content and allows brands to insert a quick message or endorsement. The conflict between YouTube ads and ad slates (Nikhil adds) This conflict between ads included in the video by the creator YouTube isn't new. A content creator, on condition of anonymity, had told MediaNama Insights last year that "There were many problems which we…
