Video Sites Give Everyone Piece Of Ad Pie

Straight from reality into my laptop. The world of text based Internet
communications is quickly dissolving into video feeds of human faces,
dancing dogs, pasta covered babies, and natural disasters – with a few
ads thrown in to cover bandwidth. As consumers, we're constantly
looking for new entertainment, but the lines between fun and function
blur as new companies discover profit lies in bridging the gap between
our laptop screens and ip addresses to the families with a video
camera next door. My favorite dotcoms of the month are Bitmunk,
Cozingo, with a nod to MetaCafe's new channel initiative. Their
revenue models are divergent and creative, and not simply
ad-supported, but advertising, nonetheless, is part of their nature.

Bitmunk is a digital media selling solution that allows consumers to
own their media purchases. Consumers can burn, swap, or even re-sell
their purchases indefinitely with royalties going back to the original
copyright owner. Recently, Bitmunk launched their video-support
feature and heralded a partnership with Filmbaby to distribute their
catalog of over 2000 indie films. The technology behind Bitmunk allows
for anyone to easily upload digital music or video content, set a
price, and control their royalties and tracking. So, if you want to
sell that video of your infant son laughing hysterically at a bowl of
spaghetti, you can. Just be sure your infant son has signed a release.
Marinara stains on paper might not hold up in court if he comes back
in 20 years and demands the proceeds from your entrepreneurial spirit.
Bitmunk clearly states to content producers they take a smaller
percentage of sales transactions than other online media stores – but
also offer consumers the option to view advertising pre-rolls to cut
down their total purchase cost.

Cozingo is like a video-based Craigslist– hosting a directory of
services, dating ads, and items for sale pitched directly from "people
near you." Launched in June, the site has seen rapid growth and not
only entertains the casual surfer, but serves an exceptional function
for people who need to buy something, date something, or have
something done for them. All video clips include a verbal pitch and
the brick & mortar contact info of the purveyor themselves. In what
seems like a smart marketing effort to get more content, Cozingo has
an affiliate program in place which rewards video uploads as well as a
generous "camera loan" program for those with a more enterprising
nature. So, if you want to advertise your family's Italian restaurant
with a video of your infant son laughing at a bowl of spaghetti,
Cozingo is the perfect place to do it – and they'll even pay you for
it. However, unlike Craigslist, Cozingo does not have plans to
introduce paid business listings into their revenue model. According
to Shoubi Rastegar, President of Cozingo, they want to remain a "…
free classifieds resource for everyone." A bidding system for featured
video and prime placement on the main page is likely to be introduced
at a later date.

MetaCafe is a long running favorite video-upload and share site with
heavy traffic and a committed community of surfers. Less than 10
months ago, MetaCafe launched a rewards program called "Producer
Awards" - in which the most popular viewed videos and their copyright
owners would receive cash compensation for their participation in the
community. These content producers would receive $100 per 20,000 views
coupled with some additional stipulations on quality. The program was
successful, but only the most popular videos would float to the top of
MetaCafe's filter and to the casual surfer's laptop. Late July,
MetaCafe introduced a new feature called "Channels" which sorts all
videos by a particular producer into a quickly browsable frame.
Suddenly, it was possible for Pasta Baby, Laughing Bowl and Marinara,
and Joey's Italian Family Restaurant to appear side by side for their
die-hard fans. Viewings exponentially increased, and so did the
infant's college fund, thanks to the integrated Producer Rewards
program. The marketing highlight of the new Channel feature is the
integrated ads that hover on the lower portion of the video during
play. MetaCafe is heavily ad-supported and with the new Channels
feature they're giving back more to the producers, thanks to the
advertisers handing out more for the new views.
Source: adotas.