AdAge reports that Google has a plan for monetizing YouTube – getting you and other content creators to sell ads:

Professional content producers — those who come equipped with their own ad-sales teams — are now able to sell advertising on their YouTube channels. That includes the click-to-expand overlays that run across the bottoms of YouTube videos and display units on the page that hosts the video player.

The revenue is split between the content creator and YouTube, just as it would be if YouTube sold the ads.

For many professional content creators and producers, being able to control the inventory that surrounds their videos is an important factor when they consider where and how to distribute content online. Revision3, the online-video-production company behind shows such as “Diggnation” and “Techzilla,” is selling advertising on YouTube, starting with GoDaddy, a sponsor that’s regularly integrated into the content of its shows. Many Revision3 shows have integrated sponsors, and the company’s CEO, Jim Louderback, said the ability to pair companion YouTube advertising in and around the videos is appealing.

YouTube is by far the largest video site, with more than 4 billion videos viewed in March, but it has not been able to translate that success into significant dollars.

This move mashes up their video and ad managing infrastructures in an intelligent way – offering content producers a complete solution.