Friday, March 30

Advertising.com to provide ad management services to NBC Universal, News Corp.

New York—Advertising.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL, said
Friday that it will be the ad management service partner for NBC
Universal and News Corp.

AOL recently announced its alliance with the two media companies to
launch an Internet video distribution network offering full-length
programming, movies and clips from a dozen networks and two major film
studios. Under the agreement, Advertising.com will provide
comprehensive display and video advertising management as well as
fulfillment for the new video site and the dedicated video player
embedded on that site, as well as to its distribution partners.

Tuesday, March 27

TV Guide to Launch Video Search Engine

Media staple TV Guide will soon launch its own search engine that will
guide people to online video across the web, reports the Associated
Press.
Instead of becoming a video channel of its own along the YouTube
model, the engine will simply crawl the internet and index the video
it finds. Only 60 sites will be crawled, all from TV networks or other
major companies such as Google and others. TV Guide will monetize the
search function by selling ads within results and licensing out the
tool.

Far from being a "right now" play, TV Guide has its eyes on the
future, when TV and the internet will be integrated and it can help
people find video content regardless of distribution platform.

The company hopes results will be more relevant to the user based on
its cross-referencing an item's metadata against its huge database of
programming information. Users will be allowed to save videos to an
offline application.

NBC Pitches Cross-Media Engagement Measurement

With its programming appearing on several platforms, NBC wants to
provide advertisers with numbers of a show's total impact, reports
MediaPost.
NBC isn't satisfied with just selling advertising on its namesake
network. Instead, it wants to show advertisers how many people are
watching it there, on other NBC Universal networks, online, and via
iTunes. Such numbers could, of course, push a show's ratings up
considerably.

Last year NBC cut a deal with Toyota that included an "engagement"
measurement, and this cross-media emphasis could go beyond even that.
Multiple views of a single episode would be particularly important
since those would provide multiple ad exposure.

Monday, March 26

Overlay CTR, on Forbes.com

Videoegg of San Francisco also offers a clickable overlay ad option
called a "ticker," as well as an "endcap," which provides a number of
clickable options at the end of a video clip. The options could lead
to a video ad, other video content or even a game. Videoegg's ads cost
about $10 to reach a thousand people, while conventional pre-roll ads
cost $20 to $50 to reach the same number.

Omnicom Group (nyse: OMC - news - people ) subsidiary Organic used
Videoegg's technology for a promotion last year for Fox TV's The O.C.
that ran on Videoegg's ad network and portal sites including Time
Warner's (nyse: TWX - news - people ) AOL, Viacom's MTV and News
Corp.'s (nyse: NWS - news - people ) MySpace.

If a viewer clicked on a ticker at the bottom of the screen, the video
they were watching was automatically paused and a new screen opened
where the viewer could watch a promo for The O.C. If the viewer didn't
click on the ad, the endcap at the end of the clip offered them the
option of watching a preview for an upcoming episode.

Fox netted a 5% click-through rate from the endcap and 6% to 8% for
the overlay, according to Rick Corteville, Organic's executive
director of media. That represented a far better audience response
than the 0.2% click-through rates that eMarketer says is typical of
static banner ads.

Friday, March 16

Advertising.com: 80% More Publishers Veer to Video Ads in ‘07

With its 2007 online publisher survey, Advertising.com, Inc. has
revealed that 80% more publishers support video advertising formats
this year versus last. The survey addressed the future of online
advertising revenue growth, advertiser objectives and advertising
capabilities for publishers.

Furthermore, 100% of websites that support streaming content are
monetizing it with video advertising. Advertising.com's predictions
for 2007 include publishers adding more original streaming content to
their websites, and making a move away from syndicated or
user-generated content.

David Jacobs, senior VP of publisher services for Advertising.com,
said, "Video has a lot of value for advertisers. It carries great
emotional impact like TV, yet it can be measured and can't be skipped.
That value means publishers can command higher CPMs – hence the rise
of streaming content."

The report also affirms the widely-observed trend of traditional
advertisers shifting more spending towards online, with the focus
resting simultaneously on branding and direct response objectives.

Dominance of CPM pricing models, the focus on larger ad sizes, and the
use of more sophisticated advertising formats such as video and rich
media were other findings within the report directly related to both
branding and direct response campaigns. Notably, direct response
advertising, including text links and CPC/CPA pricing, is expected to
decline in 2007.

Thursday, March 15

Tremor Adds Former IAB Chief To Board, Opens SF Office

Tremor Adds Former IAB Chief To Board, Opens SF Office

GREG STUART, FORMER CEO AND president of the Interactive Advertising
Bureau, has racked up another board post. He's joining Tremor Media's
board of advisors, the rich media and video ad network said. Tremor
said Stuart will offer strategic guidance and form an advisory board
for the company.

Stuart, who left the IAB late last year, already sits on the board of
Rapt., Inc., a profitability management company, and Allyes, a Chinese
company. He also serves on the advisory boards of Adify Corp., an ad
network; Fraudwall; Veoh; ZenZui; and Vizu, in addition to the
non-profits SEMPO and IAB Mexico.

"Greg is involved in every aspect of the industry. He knows everyone,
and is one of the guys who truly gets it," said Randy Kilgore, chief
revenue officer of Tremor Media.

"Greg's experience, industry knowledge and contacts will be tremendous
assets for us as we continue to grow," said Jason Glickman, CEO,
Tremor Media.

Separately, Tremor said it's expanding its West Coast presence by
opening a San Francisco office to help promote the launch of its
Ad-inStream ad-serving product.

In conjunction with the new office opening, the company named Matthew
Rochios as director of sales-West Coast, and Gregory McAllister as
regional sales manager-Western Region.

Rochios, formerly a sales manager at MySpace.com, will manage all
sales and marketing activities for Tremor on the West Coast.
McAllister, who worked in client acquisitions at TrafficBuyer Digital,
is charged with increasing awareness of Tremor's video and rich media
ad services by working with agencies, marketers, and brand managers.

Wednesday, March 14

NBC & MobiTV

NBC Universal will start selling episodes of "Heroes," "The Office,"
"Monk," "Battlestar Galactica" and other full-length TV shows to
wireless users that subscribe to MobiTV, the companies said this
morning.

But despite the popularity of those shows, this offer doesn't seem
likely to move the bar on mobile TV adoption.

For one thing, the shows seem expensive, going for a minimum of $1.99
per episode, which will buy users only a 24-hour viewing period.
That's the same as most shows go for on Apple, but iTunes downloaders
own those programs -- meaning they're not limited to a 24-hour viewing
window. With Apple's iPhone due to hit the market soon, NBC's plans to
offer 24-hour rentals of its shows isn't likely to lure many early
adopters -- which also make up the MobiTV subscriber base.

Too, the 24-hour limit might prove impractical, as many mobile
batteries run down after several hours; if users spend one of them
watching "Monk," that's less time available for talking.

The deal also includes some free add-ons for MobiTV subscribers,
including ad-supported versions of some shows, like "Friday Night
Lights," "Shear Genius" and "Work Out." But those offerings in
themselves don't seem likely to drive MobiTV adoption.

Tuesday, March 13

Ex-Disney Chief Building Video Kingdom Online

Michael Eisner, the man who revived a struggling Walt Disney company
in 1984 and prompted the development of hit animated features like
Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, is now trying his
hand at online video.

Eisner's investment firm, the Tornante Company, has formed a new
studio called Vuguru to produce video features for the Web. Vuguru's
first internet show, a mystery serial entitled Prom Queen, will debut
on April 2, 2007. One 90-second episode will be released each day for
80 days on Vuguru.com, Ellegirl.com, the site of one of the show's
sponsors, and promqueen.tv, a site dedicated to the show which will
also include forums and blogs. Episodes will also be distributed on
video-sharing sites YouTube and Veoh. Eisner is a Veoh board member.

"There's a new distribution platform that's going to be ubiquitous,
and that's clearly broadband," said Eisner in an interview first
published in USA Today. He said that sharing sites like YouTube
captured the "short-term" audience, but that "winning the marathon
will be professionally produced, emotionally driven story
content"–like Prom Queen.

The show will feature pre- and post-roll ads with product placements
from Fiji Water, Pom Wonderful juices and Teleflora florists.
According to USA Today, it's difficult to find sponsors because
produced online video is such a new medium and there are not yet any
audience numbers to report.

"We're making up our own rules as we go along," admits Eisner. He
hopes this new venture will help people see the business value of
professionally produced online entertainment.

Viacom in $1 bln copyright suit vs Google, YouTube

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIAB - news)
sued Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG - news) and its Internet video-sharing
site YouTube for more than $1 billion on Tuesday in the biggest
challenge yet to the Web search leader's strategy to dominate the
online video market.

The lawsuit accuses Google and its popular online video unit of
"massive intentional copyright infringement," threatening its
ambitions to turn YouTube into a major distributor of entertainment
and outlet for advertising.

Shares in Viacom gained 1.25 percent to $40.07 and Google shares
slipped 1.25 percent to $449.07 in morning trading.

Sumner Redstone-controlled Viacom has been the most vocal critic of
YouTube as it sought to negotiate payment for use of its media
programming.

NBC Universal and News Corp. (NYSE:NWSA - news) have also criticized
YouTube's copyright protection policies but stopped short of taking
legal action.

YouTube does not prevent copyrighted content from being uploaded onto
its site, but it will take material down if contacted by copyright
owners.

"YouTube's strategy has been to avoid taking proactive steps to
curtail the infringement on its site, thus generating significant
traffic and revenues for itself while shifting the entire burden --
and high cost -- of monitoring YouTube onto the victims of its
infringement," Viacom said in a statement.

Viacom filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York, seeking an injunction against further violations
as well as damages.

Google said it was confident that YouTube respects the copyrights at
issue in the Viacom case.

"We will certainly not let this suit become a distraction to the
continuing growth and strong performance of YouTube," Google said in a
statement.

Viacom, home to the MTV and Comedy Central channels, contends that
almost 160,000 unauthorized clips of its programming have been
uploaded onto YouTube's site and viewed more than 1.5 billion times.

The decision to sue Google followed "a great deal of unproductive
negotiation," the company said.

WEB VIDEO RACE

Google bought YouTube last November for $1.65 billion, aiming to
capitalize on its explosive audience growth built from sharing both
homemade and professionally produced videos.

The company said it would introduce technology to help media companies
identify pirated videos uploaded by users, but has not given a firm
timetable.

Viacom and peers like NBC Universal are also investing heavily in
their own Internet video sites in an effort to benefit from the
migration of television audiences to the Web.

"Viacom's Web traffic is increasing nicely since it pulled content
from 'GooTube,"' said Richard Greenfield, analyst at Pali Capital.

"There is certainly an opportunity for YouTube to do a deal with
Viacom, but Viacom does not have to have a YouTube deal," Greenfield
said.

Google's dominance in Web search had already made it a magnet for
lawsuits by copyright and trademark holders.

The Silicon Valley company faces outstanding lawsuits in the United
States and Europe by major book, magazine and online news publishers
as well as small-time Web site operators.

Google has prevailed in high-profile suits against it by auto insurer
GEICO over trademark infringement and in a demand by the U.S. Justice
Department that Google comply with a request for consumer Web search
data.

Online video service Vmix lands NBC deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) - vMix Media, the online video technology company,
said on Tuesday it has launched an NBC channel that features
promotional video clips of top shows "Heroes" and "30 Rock," as media
companies seek outlets that also protect its copyrights.
ADVERTISEMENT

vMix, founded by former executives at music site MP3.com and Universal
Music Group, offers tools for media companies to offer online videos
and provide features that encourage users to send messages and leave
comments.

"You don't want PrettyBoy13 in Des Moines putting up a clip people are
talking about, and NBC has no idea what's going on," Greg Kostello,
vMix chief executive, said in an interview.

Kostello refers to the popularity of Google Inc.'s YouTube, the top
online video service, whose runaway success and lax filters to screen
for copyrighted videos before they are uploaded, has drawn the ire of
the media industry.

Clips from television shows are uploaded to YouTube by its members,
often without permission from content owners.

Although NBC also has a promotional deal with YouTube, they have been
unable to reach a broader distribution deal for more of its videos.

San Diego-based vMix signed a deal with Tribune Co.'s interactive
division in January to off

Monday, March 5

YuMe Brings 'Brand Safe' Advertising to Online Video

A new online video network called YuMe has launched, offering
advertisers the ability to target messaging to online video content
the way they do with keyword placements, reports MediaPost.

Included is a technology solution ensuring "brand safe" content for
the placements, addressing an issue of concern to brand marketers,
which tend not to want their ads to appear next to questionable
material.

YuMe uses a proprietary contextual mapping technology to scan online
video content and then categorize it into such channels as Auto,
Finance, Entertainment and Family Friendly. In addition, YuMe's
technology offers real-time reporting capabilities and the ability to
modify creative by market on the fly.

This targeting ability could appeal to automotive advertisers looking
to showcase local dealers in different markets, or airlines or
restaurants wanting to run different price promotions in different
locations.

Thursday, March 1

ROO to Acquire Assets of Wurld Media

The Acquisition will Accelerate ROO's Deployment of Peer-to-Peer
Technology, Social Networking, E-Commerce Applications and Digital
Rights Management Capabilities

New York, NY (February 27, 2007) - ROO Group (OTCBB: RGRP) today
announced that it will expand its video offerings to include secure
peer-to-peer distribution, social networking, digital e-commerce and
comprehensive digital rights management through a planned purchase of
Wurld Media.

ROO has signed a letter of intent to purchase Wurld Media's assets for
up to $10 million, to be paid in cash and ROO common stock at $4.39
per share. Under the terms of the letter of intent, ROO will
immediately advance $1.5 million to Wurld Media, which shall be
evidenced by a promissory note. Further, upon the closing of the
acquisition, ROO will pay $6.5 million dollars in stock or cash and
ROO will agree to issue an additional $2 million in ROO stock upon the
achievement of milestones. The transaction is subject to certain
conditions, including the negotiation and entry into definitive
acquisition agreements and the completion of further due diligence.
The parties anticipate that the transaction will close in 120 days or
less.

AOL in talks to buy Third Screen Media - WSJ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc.'s AOL is in talks to acquire
mobile phone advertising start-up Third Screen Media, the Wall Street
Journal said on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The deal for the company, which posts small advertisements on
cellphone screens, is likely to be in the range of $80 million, the
paper said, adding that the talks could still fall through.

Last year, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN unit was close to buying Third Screen
but the deal fell apart, the paper said, citing people familiar with
the matter.

At that time the company told Reuters that it was looking for
additional funding to expand its mobile advertising business rather
than trying to sell the company.

AOL and Third Screen have been negotiating since early this year and
discussions are fairly advanced, the Journal said, citing people
familiar with the talks.

If a deal happens Third Screen is likely to become part of AOL's
Advertising.com unit, which helps broker ads on the Internet, the
paper said.

AOL and Third Screen were not immediately available on Tuesday to comment.

Wireless providers, advertisers and media companies are all eyeing
wireless devices as potential vehicles for advertising as more and
more cellphones have high quality color screens, video players and Web
browsers.

Third Screen hopes to carve out a niche in this market by selling
software that specializes in placing ads on mobile video clips, Web
sites and video game players.