Revver's latest interview

Max Kalehoff (VP marketing for Nielsen BuzzMetrics) reports in MediaPost's Online Spin :

"I met Oliver Luckett, Revver's co-founder, senior vice president of network  development, on a panel I co-moderated at June's Supernova  Conference. I asked him to share a few thoughts about Revver and the  democratization of online video:

Max  Kalehoff: What differentiates Revver from other online video platforms?  

Luckett: We're not a portal, but instead we have embraced the  distribution and monetization of content through  very powerful tools. With that comes responsibility for screening, and ensuring  no copyright infringement. Humans watch over the network, and request more  information on ownership of content, or refuse it. We simply don't run ads  against pirated content. Everyone knows that's wrong, but everyone's skirting around the game and it makes studios  and creatives angry. It's important to build and  nurture the relationship with the creator. We're building a legitimate business  to allow people to maintain their individual creator  identity, and still have a revenue and sponsorship  model that is attached to it. As a media buyer on Revver, you're supporting real  original artists, not YouTube. That's a huge emotional connection.  

Kalehoff: Who are your stakeholders?  

Luckett: First is the content creator, then the sponsors and  affiliates. We're opening up our API [application programming interface] so big  brands and affiliates can be Revver clones. We'll  give you a video portal in a box to manage and host, just like an instant  business. The positioning of the Revver brand is: if it's Revver-enabled, it's a  trusted platform. We're democratizing the distribution and monetization of media. Revver  is a trusted resource, similar to PayPal, and an ad-serving network combined in  one. We're not unlike an Ebay-enabled store.  

Kalehoff: Revver empowers semi-professional and serious amateur  content creators, like the show with zefrank or Ask A  Ninja. What about serious professionals?  

Luckett: We're moving toward the professional spectrum, but  online video itself is becoming a new art form in Hollywood. Consider Invisible Engine or It's All In Your Hands, where the  audience chooses where the story will go next. It's professionally done, and  emerging into a new form of serial programming, a new form of entertainment.    


Kalehoff: Why do so many content creators still use other platforms  that don't compensate or protect their work?  

Luckett:  I don't think they know about Revver, but they're learning quickly. Many  of the biggest YouTube creators are moving to Revver. Many big creators also  leave social-media portals like YouTube because the community is  rough...comments become a place for spam and hatred. Even on the innocuous  Firefox promotion, we had to take comments down because of spam and  inappropriate feedback. But community is still important with Revver,  particularly among content creators who educate one another about how to make  money.  

Kalehoff: Is Revver a friend or foe of online publishers?  

Luckett: We're a huge friend of online  publishers. We give them control, a call for action, a way to monetize content.  Your audience is your best distributor if you're a big media brand. And if your  audience can be your programmer, why not make money off of it? The value of the  content is in the audience embracing it.  

The big portals and search engines are a different story, however.  Independent creators often get sucked into big companies like Google and Yahoo  through exclusives, in an attempt to lock in their content. Google is not indexing the world's video, but trying to  control it. That's not resonating with creators, who must ask themselves: am I  part of a video community, or being pulled into a giant, faceless, soulless  engine?  

From a viewer perspective, discovery doesn't happen on search engines and  mega portals with exclusives. Exclusives limit reach. Think of what happened to  JibJab. Video discovery happens on affiliates, which  serve as curators of content. We need MySpace, blogs  and specialized niche portals. Your audience is your best promoter.  

Kalehoff: A lot of media planners and buyers read this column. So, how do  you sell advertising?  

Luckett: We sell advertising on a cost-per-click basis, and  we're now exploring CPM and sponsorship models. We  view the video as an ad container. The player and the ads are dynamic and interchangeable--an automated, programmable  file. We rely on keywords, authors, ratings and channels, powered by a human  review process, to ensure the content is contextually relevant to advertising.  In terms of audience ratings and metrics, 89 percent of views occur through  syndication. We will use third-party solutions--like DART and ATLAS--and will  open our API to other ad-serving systems. We'll allow people to create campaigns  through other platforms."