StumbleUpon Offers Personalized Video Content

In a sea of online video, StumbledUpon may have solved the problem of
finding content suited to users' tastes.

Google, Baidu eye online video business in China

Google Inc. and Baidu.com Inc., its biggest rival in China, are
exploring similar options to expand their online video services in the
world's fourth-largest economy.
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Industry sources told Reuters this week that the two Internet search
leaders have independently had early discussions with some local video
Web sites for potential business cooperation or possible acquisitions.

More Advertisers to Increase TV Spend than Online Media

New research shows that TV might be seeing a slight resurgence with
advertisers, with more advertisers planning to increase their TV spend
than their spend in online media.

According to the just-completed fall Advertiser Perceptions survey of
2,400 decision makers, 31 percent plan to boost their TV ad spending
over the next six months, while only 29 percent plan to increase it
for online media.

Pulse 360 launches online video targeting service

Pulse 360, a Web marketing company, announced the launch of an online
video ad targeting service. Using the service, marketers can target
online video ads to users based on context, location, behavior or
other demographics. Video ads can be appended at the beginning or end
of online video content.

Time Life, Brightcove Partner To Hawk 'Get Smart' DVD

TIME LIFE IS TEAMING UP with Internet video company Brightcove in a
marketing effort to help promote the release of "Get Smart: The
Complete Collection," a DVD boxed set of all five seasons of the
classic TV comedy that ran on NBC from 1965 to 1970. The viral
campaign will provide fan sites, blogs and other Web outlets with a
media player featuring "Get Smart" clips that will be periodically
updated during the holiday season promotion. The clips enable viewers
to click through the video to the Time Life site to buy the 25-DVD
boxed set.

Coke Uses YouTube Stars for Holiday Campaign

After an initially cool reaction to amateur video auteurs, Coca-Cola
is continuing its embrace of consumer creativity with a YouTube
promotion...

ValueClick Enters Web Video Market

December 05, 2006

By Brian Morrissey, Adweek

NEW YORK -- While Web video has been dominated by big sites like YouTube, ValueClick is betting 2007 will be the year that more small sites add streaming content.

The Westlake Village, Calif.-based advertising network this week begins offering the 13,000-plus sites in its network the opportunity to run in-stream video spots, complementing the banner ads the company already provides.

ValueClick is the latest entrant into the booming Web video market, which eMarketer expects to grow from $650 million in 2007 to $1.7 billion by 2009.

While major destinations like YouTube, Yahoo, MSN and Google (in addition to high-traffic sites like CNN.com and ESPN.com) account for a large portion of Web video views, ValueClick sees an emerging market of small providers, such as Live365.com and GetRadio.com. Its network approach will allow advertisers to run campaigns that reach millions of viewers dispersed on small sites.

In a survey of its publishers, 20% already have video and 50% plan to in 2007. Yet most remain too small to handle or sell video placements on their own, said Dave Yovanno, general manager of media at ValueClick.

"It's very early in the market for video representation," he said.

The long tail of small sites is the focus on several Web video advertising startups, including ROO, Tremor, Broadband Enterprises and Brightcove. In its first month, ValueClick expects it will stream over 100 million video ads.

ValueClick would have a leg up on most of those because of its existing relationship with Web publishers who are moving from mostly text-based offerings, monetized through banner ads, to broadband content with in-stream placements, Yovanno said.

The company is experimenting with different forms of video spots, including pre-roll, post-roll and placements around the video player. While it will sell placements on a cost-per-thousand basis of about $20, ValueClick will remain focused on delivering measurable results over pure branding, Yovanno said.

"We're absolutely focused on providing the steak with the sizzle," he said.

Valueclick's Video Product: Another Day, Another Video Platform

Seeking Alpha:

Posted on Dec 6th, 2006 with stocks: VCLK

ashkanAshkan Karbasfrooshan submits: Not a day goes by when a company does not introduce a new video platform: yesterday it was Valueclick’s (VCLK) turn.

The new system for publishers and marketers will be integrated into ValueClick’s existing ad-serving platform and will include a variety of formats, such as video, rich media and standard display ads.

We like Valueclick a lot. I used to own the stock and sold it after I doubled my money. Frankly, had I kept, I think I could have nearly tripled it. Anyway, Valueclick has grown of late through acquisitions, so it’s ironic to see this from John Ellis, vice president, product management at ValueClick Media, the ValueClick unit that operates the ad network:

A lot of our competitors got into the video ad space by acquiring other companies. We’ve integrated video into our existing platform so that on Day 1, advertisers can take full advantage of this.

Indeed, it’s not a bad idea to integrate this because Valueclick has a lot of nice pieces in its product line as it is.

We’re just a bit concerned about all of the innovation in the space. We’re not luddites or anything, we’re a perfect example of a company (a producer of original video content for the Web) who would like to use their platform. The problem is that we’re also looking at alternatives from Valueclick’s competitors. Adoption of any platform takes time.

Anyway, we’ll look at the platform by Valueclick and let you know of our thoughts.

ValueClick Launches In-Stream Video Network

ClickZ News

By Kate Kaye | December 5, 2006

There's no denying online video is ripe for monetization through more pervasive in-stream advertising, and today's public beta launch of same across the ValueClick Media network is yet another signal. Following the footsteps of ad network competitors like Advertising.com and 24/7 Real Media, the firm is now allowing its publishers to provide pre- and post-roll video, display and rich media ads to advertisers. ValueClick will also target video spots based on previous user behavior.

A quarter of the 13,500 publishers in the network currently have video content on their sites, said ValueClick Media GM David Yovanno. The company expects that number to double in Q1 of next year, he added. "We realized we needed to work with our publishers about advertising opportunities that might come out of that," he said.

About 150 publishers are set to serve up video ads from more than 100 advertisers through the system, Yovanno told ClickZ News. The platform enables pre-roll and post-roll video in addition to static graphical images served directly within the video player before and after content plays. Advertiser verticals the network typically sells to, including telecom, pharmaceutical, consumer electronics and automotive have all experimented through the video network, he continued.

Post-roll display ads, said JupiterResearch Analyst Emily Riley, will be especially appealing to direct response advertisers that "before would be completely shut out" of video advertising since publishers don't want users clicking away from their sites before viewing their content.

Though she thinks the video ad product is "a good move" for ValueClick, Riley cautioned video inventory is "somewhat limited" on many of the network's sites, which are smaller non-portal publishers. She added, "Even if you have video content, in many cases it's by far less traffic than the homepage of your site."

Buying video ads through such a network, though, could broaden reach and ease the process for advertisers that find purchasing video directly on several smaller sites too labor intensive. "They can aggregate so many disparate sites that might offer small amounts of video," said Riley.

The network will provide original, repurposed, syndicated and user-generated video content, allowing advertisers to buy site-by-site as well as on a portfolio, channel, reach and marketplace basis. Advertisers can block ads from being served in CGM video, according to Yovanno. "We clear that up front in the media planning stage," he added.

ValueClick will enable its behavioral targeting and optimization technologies for the video ads, in addition to frequency capping and other types of targeting. At first, ads will be sold on a CPM basis only, but the company anticipates offering performance-based buys in the future. "As we get more skilled at managing this unit, we'll be able to offer more performance-based [ads]," Yovanno said.

AOL's Advertising.com can also target video ads based on user behavior; however, said Aimee Irwin, the firm's video ad network VP, "It's technically possible, but because of scale…we don't tend to do it." The network, which has been combined with Lightningcast's video network since also being acquired by AOL, usually targets video spots contextually, demographically, and by site. "Those are primarily where advertiser demands are these days," added Irwin.

"I would definitely think we'll be competing with Advertising.com in the market," said Yovanno.

24/7 Real Media partnered last October with video network Roo to serve up in-stream ads. Other services like rich media vendor Eyewonder and video distribution firm Brightcove also offer ad networks.

ValueClick developed its video serving technology specifically for the new offering. Because the firm represents a variety of video inventory across a diverse mix of publishers, Yovanno said the company didn't think available technologies would be appropriate to integrate with its platform. The new product lets publishers serve ads in videos displayed through Windows Media Player, Apple Quicktime and Macromedia Flash.

Now that more and more networks are offering in-stream ads, said Jupiter's Riley, "It's a matter of how to categorize the content….It's a big project."

ValueClick Launches Video Network

iMedia:

By Dawn Anfuso

ValueClick today is introducing a combination in-stream and in-banner solution for advertisers and publishers. The beta program will enable advertisers to insert a video, rich-media or static banner ad before or after video content.

"A lot of folks are trying to figure out what to do [in regard to advertising in and around video.] This enables them to take what assets they have, even if they don't have video yet, and experiment," says John Ardis, VP, digital marketing, ValueClick.

The video solution -- essentially another ad unit option -- integrates with the ad networks' other offerings, such as behavioral targeting, and is compatible with all online video players.

ValueClick boasts 13,000-plus sites in its network, plus a focus on performance, offering advertisers broad reach and "long-tail experimentation," says Ardis.

Advertisers can begin pulling the code for the in-video ads starting today. Over a hundred publishers have expressed interest in the offering, and dozens of advertisers have indicated they will take advantage of it. ValueClick estimates it will serve 100 million streams within the first month.

ValueClick plans to add enhancements, such as companion banners and international expansion, in the future.

eMarketer recently estimated that online video advertising will reach $2.35 billion by 2010. The industry is gearing up for this growth.

In November, DoubleClick released DART Motif for In-Stream, a publisher solution for measuring and managing video ad serving from any format, any player, and EyeWonder introduced a tool to enable interactive marketers to design, build, preview and test EyeWonder rich media and video ad units through a Macromedia Flash environment, simplifying the process.

ValueClick Unveils New Video Ad-Serving Platform

MediaPost:

by Mark Walsh, Tuesday, Dec 5, 2006 6:00 AM ET
AS VIDEO SPREADS ACROSS THE Web, the competition to surround it with advertising also grows. No. 2 Internet ad network ValueClick Inc. today unveils a new video ad-serving system to run ads before and after videos and within banners.

The new system for publishers and marketers will be integrated into ValueClick's existing ad-serving platform and will include a variety of formats, such as video, rich media and standard display ads.

ValueClick estimates that one-quarter of the publishers in its 13,500-site network already offer video, and projects that half will offer it by the first quarter of next year. Inventory of about 100 million video streams will be available at launch.

With the move, ValueClick also takes direct aim at Advertising.com, the Web's largest ad network. Earlier this year, it acquired online video ad company Lightningcast to boost its own video-ad serving ability. Advertising.com sites reached 84% of the U.S. Internet audience in October, while ValueClick's reach totaled 77%, according to comScore Media Metrix.

"A lot of our competitors got into the video ad space by acquiring other companies," says John Ellis, vice president, product management at ValueClick Media, the ValueClick unit that operates the ad network. "We've integrated video into our existing platform so that on Day 1, advertisers can take full advantage of this."

Helping to fuel investments in video ad technology is recent research showing that video is the fastest-growing type of online advertising. Market research firm eMarketer predicts that Internet video advertising will be a $3 billion business by 2010, compared to a $410 million one this year.

This emerging market has also given rise to a crop of nascent video ad networks, such as Tremor Media and BrightRoll, seeking to compete with established online ad networks.

Ellis says ValueClick considered buying video ad expertise before building its own system, but found that smaller companies wouldn't be able to serve video ads on a large ad network. "They weren't accustomed to dealing with the scale that we are."

For advertisers, ValueClick its touting the reach of its network as a way to go beyond the top Internet properties to unlock the "long tail" value of Web video content.

Publishers, meanwhile, would be able to easily add video to existing account management tools and take advantage of the higher CPMs commanded by video ads.

ValueClick is also planning to syndicate licensed video content to publishers to help generate video ad sales. ValueClick network publishers include Guardian Unlimited, InsideHoops.com, Jobs.net and The Harvard Business Review.

Recently, ad technology companies DoubleClick and Atlas, a unit of aQuantive, introduced their own video-ad serving systems for advertisers and publishers. Ellis said ValueClick clients would still be able to use third-party video ad-serving software from those companies or others if they chose not to use ValueClick's new video ad system.

ValueClick Enables Banner and Rich Media Ads in Streaming Video Content

Company's Video Efforts Could Expand to Cable Television

By Jack Myers
Jack@Mediavillage.com

ValueClick is offering advertisers a way to incorporate banner-based direct response offers with their video ads.

Myers Publishing has forecast broadband video advertising will increase from an estimated $500 to $700 million in 2006 to, conservatively, $2.7 billion in 2010, with most of the growth coming from in-stream advertising. Today, ValueClick Media is introducing an in-stream video solution in beta format for advertisers and publishers that enables advertisers to insert multiple format ads, including video, rich media or static banners into pre and post-roll inventory accompanying streaming video content.

The launch, explains ValueClick VP for product management John Ellis, is intended to respond to the accelerating growth of video ad inventory and marketers' need for flexibility. "Thus far, most of what's happening in the in-stream space is a repurposing of TV commercials to online," explained Ellis in a conversation with Jack Myers Media Business Report. "This works for branding messages but not necessarily for direct response, which most advertisers want from their online advertising. We want to provide flexibility for marketers' branding and DR objectives by enabling them to associate their existing online ad formats with the growing amount of video content."



The strategy enables second and third tier website publishers to increase their video content without concern about demand from in-stream video advertisers. While first tier sites are selling out their entire inventory and could probably double their revenues with added inventory, marketers and agencies have been reluctant to extend video campaigns to the thousands of smaller sites aligned with networks such as ValueClick, which represents 13,500 sites reaching 75 percent of the U.S. population monthly.

"Advertisers want performance and scale," says Ellis. "We are accountable for what happens. We are in such an early stage we felt it was important to give clients creative opportunities and to have a full tool sets to experiment with. We believe traditional rich media and banner ads will perform better incorporated with video content, and we are looking at click through and conversion as well as the lift in brand metrics."

Dave Yovanno, ValueClick general manager, points out 25 percent of ValueClick's publishers currently run video content on their sites and expects it will grow to 50 percent in the next four months. Through the new ValueClick service, he says, these publishers will have the opportunity to run all current advertising formats in this newly created inventory. "Content is moving from text based to video, which is more expensive for publishers to support. They need increased ad revenues to underwrite this content, but demand for video inventory is not necessarily equal to the growing supply. We're responding to that need and offering advertisers a way to incorporate banner-based direct response offers with their video ads."

Yovanno believes the ValueClick model will also apply to interactive television by incorporating information into the feedback loop and combining video with static advertising messages. "The biggest opportunity is to leverage the mindshare and market share we have with our 13,500 sites, along with the growing amount of video content, and to offer optimization techniques and solutions that we think will be unique."



John Ardis, ValueClick's Vice President for Corporate Strategy, acknowledges the company "has relationships with newspapers and local TV affiliates and we are in negotiations to represent their display ad inventory and online inventory. We're looking to bring in more branded media inventory, and could potentially add cable programming." The planned eBay auction model being investigated by several marketers and agencies with selected cable networks for a first quarter test, Ardis suggests, signals that "major brands are questioning the value they are currently receiving from traditional media and they are seeking greater cost efficiencies." Yovanno adds, "the auction model is good for valuable or for low cost inventory and in the auction environment there are inconsistencies and unknowns. Our position is in between, serving clients and planners who want cost efficiencies with consistent campaign performance and reliability."

Ardis agrees: "Our reach coupled with performance, pricing and more emotive and branding video opportunities bodes well for the online industry. The ValueClick beta service," he says, "is an attempt is to be ahead of the video wave and enable the long tail of the Internet to get on the video bandwagon at an early stage. Demand for video is increasing rapidly and our focus is on performance for the marketers and generating revenues for the publishers."

Viewpoint Service Aims to Simplify Pre-Roll Video

Unicast, the online advertising division of the Viewpoint Corporation, today released its new InStream pre-roll advertising service, which aims to provide video publishers with hassle-free, seamless video ad placement prior to playback of online content. The new service works across all OS’s, browsers, and video players like Flash, Windows Media, Real Player, and QuickTime.

Yahoo To Distribute BBC News Clips

YAHOO WILL BEGIN OFFERING BBC News video on its Web site, per a new deal with ABC News, the Internet company said late last week. ABC will provide about 30 clips daily under the new agreement.

AtomFilms Overhauls Site To Boost Viral Distribution

In hopes of encouraging users to spread its short video clips, AtomFilms has redesigned its Web site--adding new a syndicated video player that can be embedded in other sites, including social networking site MySpace. Verizon Wireless will initially sponsor the new site, which is relaunching today.

iVillage Live Takes Homemade Videos To TV

As part of its experiment fusing television and the Web, "iVillage Live," the daytime talk show premiering today, will give viewers the chance to see their homemade videos on TV. The videos will be selected from among the most popular submitted to the show's companion iVillageLive.com site.

Merrill Lynch Sees Slight Ad Spending Rise In '07

Next year should prove interesting--ad-wise. After pulling out of this year's upfront market, AOL looks to be pulling out of advertising altogether, according to an influential Wall Street analyst. The good news--predicted 2007 increases in auto and telecom spending. Overall, Merrill Lynch predicts U.S. ad spending will inch up 2.6% next year, but that car makers will spend significantly to rebuild their brands.

YouTube, Now Revver on Verizon Wireless

Verizon V-Cast subscribers will get another early Christmas present as Revver joins YouTube in providing content via Verizon's music and video service.

Video Nation: Agency Finds A Majority Now Create Their Own Video, But Few Post Them

In a finding that underscores the potential of a vast, untapped market for user-generated video, new research conducted by interactive agency Sharpe Partners indicates that more than half (54) percent of adult Internet users currently create their own video offline, but only 11 percent actually upload it to the Internet. That margin, says Sharpe, represents a significant opportunity for software and system providers to help facilitate the migration of a burgeoning consumer generated video marketplace online. It also suggests an even more profound fragmentation of the video marketplace is looming than many industry experts may have predicted.

'Secret' Google Display Advertising Network Rumored

Google has reportedly launched a "secret" CPM online ad network, dubbed the Google Display Advertising Network and being tested since Oct. 1.

With the invitation-only Google Display Advertising Network, Google is targeting Fortune 1000 companies, writes John Chow, saying he has been invited and has been participating in the display and video ad network. "Google has been hand-selecting sites…that they want to put
in front of Fortune 1000 companies. The goal being to sell these big companies display and video ads at a very high CPM," he writes.

Publishers invited to join the display ad network negotiate a flat CPM rate with Google, the contracts are for one year, and the publishers have to guarantee a certain minimum amount of monthly inventory, according to Chow. "Publishers can serve more than the minimum amount
and still receive the same CPM rate for the overage," he writes.

Google provides "extremely limited" reporting via weekly email, reporting only weekly ad impressions and pageviews, Chow writes, adding that he is "not allowed to reveal CPM or any financial data" regarding the Google Display Advertising Network.

YouTube Takes Clips Mobile

In a move likely to spur the growth of mobile video, YouTube will allow subscribers of Verizon Wireless' V Cast media service to view a selection of videos on their mobile phones starting in early December. The deal marks YouTube's first major agreement with a wireless carrier and gives Verizon at least a temporary advantage over its competitors in trying to lure customers to sign up for lucrative data services.

ValueClick

Check this out:

www.valueclickvideo.com

Break.com Raises Pay For Video Creators

VIDEO SITE BREAK.COM REPORTEDLY IS going to start paying at least $400
to some consumers who upload original clips, the New York Post and
Reuters reported Sunday. The site previously paid $250 per video.

CBS Scores Viewers With YouTube Alliance

The most popular videos on YouTube aren't skateboarders crashing into
railings, but clips of CBS programs--some featuring YouTube-like
videos, such as two women wrestling on "NCIS." Another big hit is
"Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen's interview on David Letterman. The
views--more than 1 million strong--bode well for the future of branded
entertainment.

Happy Thanksgiving!

:-)

Webshots Adds Video-Sharing to Photo Albums

CNET's photo-sharing property Webshots will now let users post video
clips to their photo albums, and Intel is sponsoring the launch of the
new service.

ROO Group Completes $15.5 Million Private Equity Financing

ROO, a global leader in online video solutions for content providers, advertisers and Websites, today announced it has completed a private equity financing with gross proceeds of $15.5 million, in a common stock transaction. All of the participants in the transaction are accredited institutional investors, including 033 Asset Management LLC, Ashford Capital Management, and Tudor Investment Corporation. ROO will use the net proceeds from the sale of common stock to fund ongoing operations and to make additional investments in sales and marketing.

Akamai to Acquire Nine Systems

Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Nine Systems Corp., Inc. announced today that the two companies have signed a definitive agreement for Akamai to acquire Nine Systems in a merger transaction. The closing of the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions,
including the approval of Nine Systems' stockholders, is expected by year-end. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Akamai earnings on a normalized, diluted per share basis* in 2007.
The acquisition of Nine Systems provides Akamai with a robust rich media management framework upon which services can be built to enable customers to more effectively control and monetize their digital assets. Akamai plans to integrate Nine Systems' Stream OS, a suite of configurable rich media management tools that enable easy production and publishing of content online, into the global Akamai network. Akamai's goal is to provide customers worldwide with a unified solution for managing content and controlling delivery across the industry's most pervasive rich media distribution platform.

Nielsen to Launch Video-On-Demand Measurement Service

Nielsen Media Research announced today that on December 11, 2006 it will launch a new service to measure nationally distributed Video On Demand (VOD) content using the same National People Meter sample it uses to provide television ratings to national programmers. As with
Nielsen's current ratings, clients will receive household and demographic ratings for VOD content along with other detailed audience information. By measuring VOD content in its national ratings panel, Nielsen will enable clients, for the first time, to compare the performance of programs airing on traditional channels with the performance of those same programs on demand.

EMI Music and Gotuit Media Announce Content Licensing Partnership

Gotuit Media (www.gotuit.com), a digital media company delivering a growing array of on-demand video products, and one of the fastest growing online video portals, today announced it has signed a
multi-year strategic content licensing agreement with EMI Music. Through Gotuit Media, EMI will provide its extensive catalog of music videos from many of the world's most popular artists to consumers on both the Gotuit Broadband Video Portal at www.gotuit.com in the U.S. and through the Gotuit Video on Demand (VOD) cable service, available on select Time Warner and Comcast cable systems.

Gotuit will now offer music video fans free access to EMI's large catalog of music videos from artists such as Chingy, Corrine Bailey Rae, Coldplay, Fat Boy Slim, Gorillaz, Ice Cube, Janet Jackson, Norah Jones, KORN, OK GO!, KT Tunstall, Latin sensations RBD, Keith Urban and many more − whether they're watching online, or on the couch.

Yamgo Launches Extreme Sports Mobile TV Channel

Yamgo, one of the UK's leading extreme sports mobile content providers
and publishers, has launched a Mobile TV channel dedicated to extreme
sports entertainment. Yamgo TV works on over 60 different mobile
devices through the ROK TV (www.rok.tv ) service and is available in
the UK, USA and China and will be available shortly in other countries
including Thailand, South Africa and Malaysia.

New Video Management Solution for User-Generated Content

NATIV, the media technology consultancy, today announced the launch
of its state of the art solution for the management of rich media
content. 'Mio' is designed to automate the process of validating,
cataloging and filtering video and audio content. Supporting every
well-known file format and codec, it is particularly well suited to
managing large volumes of unstructured and user generated video and
audio content.

With the explosion of video and music content across myriad networks
and devices, businesses are finding new and exciting means of
monetising rich media content. However, as the video ecosystem and its
associated formats expand, there is an increasing need to manage large
volumes of business- and user-generated media content in a more
efficient, accurate and automated fashion.

Re-purposing, storing and distributing rich media content can be
costly, so it's important to analyse inbound files rigorously before
deciding whether to process them further. However, content cataloguing
and validation can be time consuming, labour intensive and
error-prone. What may at first seem like a manageable problem quickly
becomes even more complex when considering the large number of new and
legacy digital media formats and standards currently in use. Combine
this with the facts that rich media content is increasingly user
generated, comes in huge volumes and carries no quality guarantee or
metadata and the costs mount up.

Announcing movy.tv: A Revolution in Mobile Media Sharing & Distribution

Movidity Inc. today introduced movy.tv, the world's first truly mobile
video sharing web service. Designed specifically for mobile use,
movy.tv will revolutionize multimedia sharing and distribution,
opening up endless possibilities for consumer, commercial and
professional users.

As with other popular video sharing websites, such as YouTube(r),
movy.tv will allow members to share video/audio media with other
Internet users. However, movy.tv takes a dramatic departure from
legacy video sharing in that it makes streaming of on-demand media
available to millions of mobile devices worldwide.

Launch of Website Devoted to TV Ads

The site, to be called adTV, will be devoted to old and new TV
commercials, dished up to visitors as entertainment. It is due to be
launched on January 15, 2006.

Online Video Advertising: The Myth of the Inventory Drought

Very good post by Randy Kilgore:

WE HEAR IT ALL THE time: there's a scarcity of inventory for online
video advertisers. Although it seems to be the prevailing wisdom, it's
simply not true.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the top 50 sites
account for 94% of all online ad spending. Some quick
back-of-the-envelope calculations reveal a significant surfeit of
great sites with an enormous amount of available inventory that are
part of that remaining 6%--outside the top 50. There's certainly a lot
to be said for the benefits of advertising on top sites, but 94% is
just a ridiculous number.

Clearly, the "destination" sites--the networks and the portals--are
selling out their video inventory, but in many cases that inventory is
being thrown in with the TV buy. Then we have the "mid-tail" and the
"long-tail." As more and more small and medium-sized Web publishers
bring video content online, inventory is exploding. And many of these
sites are using video in nontraditional ways.

According to comScore, in both July and August of this year, 7 billion
videos were streamed in the U.S. But according to Accustream, in July
the available pre-roll marketplace was just over a billion streams.
And that billion is highly concentrated on a few large sites.

Shorter ads (:7 - :10) that are designed specifically for online video
opportunities create a better user experience and are driving
publishers to continue to add in-stream advertising to their video
content en masse.

Effective use of video doesn't necessarily have to be pre-roll. Many
advertisers are finding in-banner video to be extremely compelling.
There is certainly no limit to the inventory for in-banner video ads,
and many marketers find that the level of engagement that's available
with in-banner video generates a significant brand boost.

Engaging post-roll is an effective option--and as more and more
long-form video comes online, multiple mid-roll ads increase the
number of ads slots that are available. Many advertisers are also
finding successful placements with video sponsorships.

New technologies and formats that are developing (e.g., video chats
with ads included, online games with video ads before and between
scenes) all add to the potential volume of inventory. And for
advertisers lacking video assets, there are still ways to take
advantage, including building flash ads to play in video spots.

Finally, there's the explosion of consumer-generated video. Although
it scares most marketers to lose their brand in the world of
user-generated, still with the usage of behavioral targeting
technology, it's possible to find in-market consumers.

Inventory scarcity? Drought of online video ad avails? Not at all.
Just a lack of creativity. It's time to wake up to the huge
opportunity that's available beyond the top few sites. It's time to
look at the long tail, because that's where the volume of video
inventory is waiting to be discovered.

Randy Kilgore is chief revenue officer for Tremor Network, responsible
for managing the company's sales and inventory growth. He was
previously senior vice president of advertising for Dow Jones Online.

Universal Music Sues MySpace

Continuing its aggressive campaign to remove unlicensed clips from
video-sharing sites, Universal Music Group Friday sued social
networking site MySpace.com for copyright infringement. The suit
charges that MySpace doesn't adequately police users from posting
Universal-owned clips.

CBS, TiVo Team Up For TiVocast, Bring Web Content To TV

CBS has signed up with TiVo's new service, which takes Web content to
the TV screen - it's the first broadcast network to do so.

YouTube Adds NHL Channel, Hinting at Future Strategy

The NHL will soon have its own brand channel on YouTube, and the
video-sharing site is negotiating with other sports leagues for
similar channels.

Orb Trumps YouTube, Takes Site Wireless First

YouTube will debut a wireless version of its popular online
video-sharing site next year, but a new software program from Orb
Networks will already allow users to view YouTube videos with their
cell phones.

EyeWonder Flashes Video

Rich media advertising company EyeWonder has released the AdWonder
Flash Component, a Flash-based ad module specifically designed to let
agencies create and test EyeWonder rich media and video
advertisements.

Ad Execs See TV Budgets Moving Into Online Video

---------- Forwarded message ----------
A MAJORITY OF TOP AD industry executives expect a significant share of
their broadcast and cable TV advertising budgets to shift to online
video buys within the next few years, according to results of an
annual survey on industry trends released Tuesday morning by the
American Advertising Federation. More than half (53%) of the 168
respondents said they expect 20% or more of their TV advertising
budgets to shift into online video by 2010 (see table below). "The
determining factor will be the sheer volume of online opportunities,"
said one agency executive participating in the survey. "Will there be
a handful of sites that rise above the fray or will there be so sites
to choose from that the media dollars can't possibly cover enough
bases to be effective?"
The study also indicates that ad executives believe traditional
broadcast TV outlets will be the most effective in integrating
traditional TV and online media into seamless marketing solutions for
advertisers and agencies. Asked which media they believed to be most
"innovative" at leading such integrations, 21.7% of the respondents
cited broadcast TV, followed by newspapers and magazines (18.5% each),
cable TV (15.2%), and radio and out-of-home (8.7% each).
Asked which traditional medium is most effective in terms of driving
traffic to advertiser Web sites, 26.0% cited magazines, followed by
broadcast TV (17.8%), cable TV (16.4%), newspapers (13.7%), radio
(11.0%), and radio (8.2%).
The survey also indicates that online ad budgets are expected to rise
by an average of 42 percent in 2007 vs. 2006. Respondents said they
expected 23.2% of their total 2007 ad budget to be spent online, up
from 16.3% of their 2006 advertising spending.
The study, which was prepared by Atlantic Media Company, is the fourth
annual survey to be issued by the AAF.

Share Of TV Ads Shifting To Online Video By 2010
Less Than 1%: 2.6%
1-5%: 9.8%
6-9%: 11.1%
10-19%: 33.3%
20-29%: 34.8%
30-39%: 11.1%
40-49%: 5.9%
More than 50%: 1.3%
Source: 2006 AAF Survey of Industry Leaders on Advertising Industry
and New Media Trends. Base = 168 respondents.

Study: Online Video Influences IT Purchases

Marketers that want to influence business executives should consider
buying ads in emerging media, including online video, social networks
and wikis. That's among the conclusions of a new study by Universal
McCann and KnowledgeStorm.

Sony Syndication Sales Team to Sell Digital Media

Convergence is the word, as Sony Pictures Television's syndication ad
sales team will now sell Sony's digital media properties as well.

Pre-Roll Is Online Video's Short-Term Solution

Online video has grown by leaps and bounds, but marketers are still
trying to figure out how best to exploit it - with video ad spend
constituting merely 0.6 percent of TV ad budgets this year, though the
online audience for it is about two-thirds the size of TV, David
Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer, points out.

What online video marketing models will succeed may not yet be clear,
but the currently dominant pre-roll approach is likely not the best
answer in the long term, writes ClickZ citing speakers at Ad:Tech in
New York last week. More than 90 percent of pre-roll inventory has
been typically sold out at any given time this year, and it will
likely stay so for a while as marketers simply run their TV spots as
pre-roll ads.

They do so, because it's the path of least resistance toward
transitioning online, which is what major marketers finally want to
do, according to Janet Balis, SVP of sales development for AOL Media
Networks. She says savvier marketers are to more gracefully integrate
brand into online content via product placement and sponsorships.

Google is also looking for alternatives to pre-roll and has instead
tested persistent branding ads above the video content and 15-second
post-roll ads, according to Daniel Blackman, strategic partner for
development at Google Video.

Citing the success of contextual text ads, he says "users respond to
less intrusive, more relevant, targeted ads," and the challenge is to
apply a similar approach to online video.

Social Networks traffic

Fame TV To Broadcast Revver Clips

Video-sharing site Revver is poised to increase the compensation it
pays to consumers who create the site's clips as part of a new
distribution deal with U.K. broadcast network Fame TV.

Viewpoint Releases Unicast Video Cube Ad Format

Unicast, the advertising division of Viewpoint Corporation (NASDAQ:
VWPT), a leading internet marketing technology company, today
introduced the Unicast Video Cube, the latest offering from the
company's Internet Marketing Technology (IMT) product series. The
Unicast Video Cube will be offered to both agencies and publishers as
a highly customizable rich media ad format. A demo of the Video Cube
can be viewed at http://www.viewpoint.com/demos/videocube/.

The Video Cube is an expandable custom ad format that seamlessly
integrates multiple media types within one ad unit; including a
real-time 3D model that can be textured with multiple 2D images and
streaming videos, all of which can be controlled through an
interactive Flash interface. This ad format enables users to expand
the Video Cube to float on top of a web page, where the 3D Video Cube
can be moved, turned and manipulated. Once expanded, users can select
and view videos from any one of the six side panels of the Cube with a
simple mouse click, or by using the Flash navigation bar below. The
navigation interface provides users with content selection menus and
video controls that can launch any video into full-screen mode without
additional load time.

Google Video Sued For Copyright Infringement

GOOGLE VIDEO IS FACING A copyright infringement lawsuit, the company
revealed this week in a filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.

The lawsuit, filed in France, seeks $192,465 (150,000 Euros) in
damages; it's based on allegations related to a documentary that
surfaced on the site. Google said it removed the video as soon as it
learned that owners hadn't authorized its release. "This is a small
lawsuit over a single video that appeared briefly. We have procedures
in place that allow copyright owners to tell us if their content is
placed on Google Video without authorization. When we receive
appropriate notice, we quickly remove the content from Google Video,"
the company said in a statement.

Video – The Future of Search and Online Advertising

Excellent blog post from Eric Kintz on HP's blog:

Check it here.

OPG Kitecam test

Congrats for that one!

Flavorpill Partners with Current TV to Generate Viewer-Created Video Content for Web and Broadcast

Flavorpill and Current TV are excited to announce a collaborative
partnership whose goal is to help shape the future of TV. The
partnership will tap Flavorpill's audience of more than 500,000
culture-savvy subscribers to create original videos, or VC2 content,
about cultural happenings. Once uploaded online, the videos will be
voted on by the Current TV community, with the best aired on
television to Current TV's 30 million homes.

The program invites Flavorpill subscribers to create short, 2-7 minute
videos, or "pods," focused on art and culture in their communities,
including artist interviews, band profiles, and other
"behind-the-scenes" reporting on Flavorpill-listed events,
under-the-radar trends, and emerging cultural movements. The "Current
Mobile" pod offers a more on-the-fly option, asking budding
videographers to use their cell phones' video cameras to capture
cultural events (in 30-second bites) as they unfold - be it killer
graffiti art in the making or just a striking fashion statement.

Blastro Networks Launches Y’all Wire Online Country Music Video Site

Blastro Networks, independent operator of Internet destinations for
music videos, movie reviews and original shows, today announced the
launch of Y'all Wire (www.yallwire.com), a new music video site
dedicated to country, bluegrass, alternative country and Christian
music videos.

Devoted entirely to country music lovers, YallWire.com will be the
third music video site hosted by Blastro Networks, joining rap/hip hop
site Blastro (www.blastro.com) and rock site Roxwel (www.roxwel.com).
Each of the Blastro Networks sites is designed with a specific
audience in mind, offering advertisers highly targeted audiences. In
addition to multiple banner ad options, Blastro offers video ad slots
before music video plays.

Video Streaming Service Mydeo Launches Subscription Offer

Mydeo.com, the video streaming company partnered with Microsoft, has
re-launched as a subscription-based service with hugely improved
functionality.

In response to feedback from customers Mydeo's service will now allow
people to stream videos with a low monthly charge – the service is
advertising free and, with no charge for the first month, you get high
quality streaming of up to 100 minutes of video.

myYearbook.com Joins VideoEgg Network

SOCIAL MEDIA SITE MYYEARBOOK.COM WILL allow members to post video to
the site through a new deal with VideoEgg, the companies announced
Tuesday. With the new deal, users will be able to upload video to the
site from nearly any type of device. myYearbook.com will also join
VideoEgg's ad network, which includes other youth-focused social
networking sites.

Visual Search Engine Like.com Launched

Visual computing firm Riya on Wednesday launched Like.com, a visual
search engine that allows consumers to search for products by
appearance rather than just text, via a collection of celebrity
fashion photos.

Google Aims To Broaden Video Syndication Program

Google intends to soon expand its new video syndication service, a
company executive said Tuesday. Speaking at an industry conference,
Daniel Blackman, Google Video's strategic partner development manager,
said that the search giant aimed to enable publishers in its AdSense
network to syndicate their content, while also allowing any marketers
to serve ads into streams.

Online Video Advertising: 'You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet!'

Rent or buy movies through your Xbox

Microsoft is getting into the movie business. The company will
announce plans Tuesday for Xbox 360 owners to buy or rent films and
television shows via its online Xbox Live Marketplace.

The program, which will launch Nov. 22, expects to have over 1,000
hours of available content before the end of the year. Microsoft
(Charts), which will unveil the program at BMO Capital Markets'
Interactive Entertainment Conference, is not expected to announce
pricing details until later this month.

eMarketer: Online Video Ads To Surge 89% In '07

Research firm eMarketer now projects that ad revenue from online video
will reach $775 million next year--an upward revision from its
previous estimate of $640 million. By 2010, online video ad spending
will soar to $2.9 billion, or 11.5% of all dollars going to online
ads, according to a new report, released Monday.

DoubleClick Crosses the In-Streams

Digital ad company DoubleClick today launched DART Motif for
In-Stream, a version of DoubleClick's DART Motif ad platform tailored
specifically for in-stream video advertising.

My new friend:

Check this out:

http://www.msdewey.com/

Revver, CAA Forge Alliance

VIDEO SITE REVVER HAS STRUCK a deal to work with Creative Artists
Agency, the companies announced Monday. Revver is powering submissions
for CAA client Independent Feature Project's online competition, "What
is the IFP?" which calls on users to submit short-form video clips to
the IFP Web site. Revver also is working with CAA client Fangoria,
which offers news about horror movies, to enable user-generated
content to be shared virally via its Web site. Revver splits ad
revenue equally with content creators.

Web Video Viewers Annoyed by In-Stream Ads

A study by Forrester Research discovered that 80% of web video viewers
said in-stream ads - those placed before and after video clips - were
"annoying," and 75% said they ignore them, AdWeek reports. The study
also found that viewers were much more likely to accept ads placed
alongside clips, or text-based ads.

In-stream ads are popular with advertisers because they make messages
easier to convey to viewers. But those viewers are used to viewing
video clips on sites such as YouTube without these placements, which
they now view as intrusive.

"When you see what's going on with YouTube and short form content,
using the old mode of inserting ads into content when you're looking
at a three-minute video is not going to work as well," said Forrester
Research analyst Brian Haven.

Dow Jones Using Brightcove's Ad Network

Brightcove's new video syndication and ad network has picked up
another client, as Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal
Online, MarketWatch.com and Barron's Online, has begun using its
services.

Hurley: YouTube to Go Mobile

YouTube hopes to have a mobile offering within a year, according to
its cofounder; the announcement comes a month or so after an analyst
said News Corp.'s MySpace would soon be going mobile.

Brightcove central

Here's an interesting post from Bambi Francisco's blog:

Brightcove, a rising star in the sizzling-hot online video sector, is morphing into a promising contender in the heated battle to be the uber-television network for the Internet generation.

Brightcove is expected on Monday to unveil a host of services including a distribution platform for content owners as well as Brightcove.com, a central repository to access the aggregated works of its big-to-small media customers.

The Manhattan-based company, which burst onto the scene with high-profile venture backers, such as Accel Partners, Hearst and InterActiveCorp. (IACI), started two years ago as a Web-based publishing toolmaker to help media companies or professional individual producers create broadband channels.

Brightcove is pursuing a two-pronged strategy that puts this young upstart in the midst of a war against video aggregators or distributors of movies and television shows, such as Google (GOOG), YouTube, Apple Computer (AAPL), to Amazon.com (AMZN) and next year, Netflix (NFLX).

No doubt, it's a fluid space, with future outcomes as varied as the business models of the companies now competing in it. The opportunity to deliver tomorrow's video has called forth many unlikely rivals from one with roots as an online bookseller, to a PC-maker, a search engine and a site where anyone could share their favorite cat-in-the-bathtub home videos. Now, Brightcove, the toolmaker, wants in.

Perhaps it's not surprising to see many companies with variegated pasts collide as they iterate their way into promising new business opportunities. But, while they may be eyeing the same goal today, their motivations are certainly different.

It seems to me that one possible fate of this publishing toolmaker to the media stars, with increasing reliance on ad-revenue scraps, would be the path journeyed by DoubleClick, an ad-serving company which went private last year. Despite the booming online advertising market, DoubleClick's general ad-serving business seemed to commoditize.

Brightcove's open-distribution approach

Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire is too smart for that. Or, he's got excellent advisers.

"We're the next generation of 'television operators' or 'platform operators' as they're known, which includes the kind of role that cable and satellite operators have provided in the past," Allaire, who came to MarketWatch studios for an interview with me, boldly claimed. (Full disclosure: MarketWatch is a client of Brightcove).

"However, we've designed our model to reflect the way the Internet operates, which is, of course, radically different than the closed systems of past distribution," he said. "On the Internet, content owners can have their own brands, their own 'spoke' destination sites, and relationships to consumers and affiliates, and that's very much what we've enabled with the launch of the Brightcove Network and our consumer and syndication marketplaces." (Please visit my MarketWatch blog for my interview with Allaire.)

Translation: Allaire's approach is to be the platform layer for content publishers across the Web; the distributor across the Web for smaller content owners; and at the same time be video central as Brightcove.com becomes the one central destination site for the content produced by all its partners.

The network

The Brightcove Network is essentially the name for the company's combined distribution and advertising solutions for content producer needs. Brightcove's distribution platforms range from Brightcove.com's destination site, Time Warner's (TWX) AOL Video, and video search portals. Content owners can also generate advertising by using Brightcove's AdNet or Pay Media service.

While certainly advertising relationships and a broad distribution strategy is a good structure to have, Brightcove.com could be the biggest beneficiary in the future.

As the main hub, Brightcove.com is a place where the company's large media customers - from studios, newspapers, music labels, etc. - can distribute some their shows for free, for rent or for purchase, will share shelf space with the productions of individuals or free agent producers. It's not much different than what we see on YouTube or Google, or the many smaller video-sharing sites, such as Gubba, that have struck deals with copyright owners of popular shows.

But it's hardly game over. And, Brightcove has one advantage. It already has relationships with some media companies since, well, it's had the pleasure of being the toolmaker to the stars. Among the companies it calls its broadband channel partners include Warner Bros. Telepictures, SonyBMG, Warner Music Group, Bravo (NBC Universal), Oxygen, and New York Times. Monster.com (MNST) is one of Brightcove's clients.

To accommodate its clients' interest in tapping into the user-generated video phenomenon, whereby the audience offers up videos to get recognized or to win a prize, Brightcove is launching a private-label video-upload service. This service is similar to the ones that launched last week. The difference is that those services overlay social network features on top of video.

Ambitious Allaire

Many might say that Brightcove is going in all sorts of directions to hit on all the popular themes of the year. Allaire's ambition raises the question of whether he can pull off so much at one time. It's no wonder Allaire is currently nailing down another round of venture financing, adding to the already $28 million he received in prior rounds.

Money helps, indeed. There are so many video-sharing sites that want America's video creations that the only way to win over the content owner, however big or small, is to offer economic incentives. After all, recognition as an incentive only works if there's a critical mass of people watching.

To provide incentive to content producers, Brightcove is going to give 50% of the gross advertising revenue to content producers who use its broadband channel platform. That's a nice premium over the portion that video-sharing site Revver offers to content owners, which is a split of ad fees net of certain costs.

But it's unclear whether Brightcove will top Metacafe's offer to pay $5 CPM (thousand impressions). After all, user-generated content may sell for only a $1 per CPM. Metacafe is one of the top video-sharing destination sites. It, too, plans to announce its economic incentives on Monday. (Go to my blog to watch my interview with Metacafe CEO Arik Czerniak.)

Another video site that pays for content is Break.com. Founder Keith Richman told me that his company has spent $280,000 for about 1,000 user-generated video clips.

So will Brightcove have a chance at being the top destination or marketplace for videos on the Web? He seems to certainly have sets his sights higher than companies that just want to be destination sites.

As I said above, it's a two-pronged strategy Allaire seems to be taking. In many ways, it's like Google, which seems to have figured out how to be a centralized repository for advertising, but the underlying provider of ads for sites across the Web. But in media, content owners always get a bit sensitive about aggregators for fear they'll lose their audience to them. Brightcove, though it will let its media partners decide whether video is played on Brightcove.com or the partner sites, faces a potential problem of being friend and foe.

Whether Allaire can prove to be more friend than foe will be one of his challenges next year.

FT.com Launches Exclusive Video Interviews with Global Business Leaders Powered by ROO Media

The Financial Times has launched an exclusive series of video
interviews with global business leaders called View From The Top. The
interviews, hosted by ROO Media, the global provider of online video
technology and syndicated content, feature global CEOs giving their
views on the world of business today and predictions for the future of
their industries. Since launching View From The Top FT Video traffic
has quadrupled.

Each week, FT.com hosts new 5-minute interviews with global CEOs.
Interviews currently showing on the site include Citigroup's Robert
Rubin, Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, Time Warner Chairman Richard Parsons
and John Thain, chief executive of the NYSE. Future interviews will
feature Jeff Immelt of General Electric, Tom Glocer of Reuters and
Fred Smith of FedEx. The interviews have been sponsored by Barclays in
the US and Landrover in the UK.

AOL and Brightcove Launch New Distribution Service for Selling Digital Video Downloads

AOL and Brightcove launched today a distribution service that can
enable video publishers to sell high-quality video downloads through
the AOL Video portal (http://video.aol.com) and receive up to 70% of
the revenue generated from their sales. The new service promises to
expand the distribution options for video publishers and the choices
for consumers.

Using Brightcove, any video publisher can easily have their video
downloads distributed and sold through AOL(r) Video. In addition,
videos can be automatically indexed in the AOL Video Search engine and
can be browsed through the AOL Video portal. Consumers will be able to
purchase and download the videos and watch them on their computers,
network connected TVs or other devices.

Microsoft Releases Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP

Enhanced Capabilities Plus Seamless Integration With URGE Make for
All-New Digital Entertainment Experiences

Streaming Media West: AOL Video presentation

Tim Tuttle, VP AOL video, shared what he sees as the four contributing
factors to the massive surge in popularity and predicted continued
growth for online video. The first is that consumers love to watch
videos online. He said sarcastically that only the guy in the cubicle
next to you watches video online, but quickly came back to reality.
"Well, over half of internet users watch online video multiple times a
month", he said. Whether it's a video on the blog that an internet
surfer just stumbles across or an email link from friends, more and
more folks are sharing and watching video online.

The second contributing factor to the growth of online video is the
content creator who loves finding ways to share videos. New delivery
methods mean direct access to people who are interested in viewing
your video. Tuttle claimed that content producers are streaming seven
billion videos a month.

The third factor that has caused this growth is advertisers. Hungry
for new ways to interact with consumers, advertisers are paying huge
amounts--$25-35 CPM, according to Tuttle--and getting exact
measurements on who's watching and what they are watching. This is one
of the areas that is actually pumping revenue back into the R&D for
online video and showing a profit.

Fourth and finally, changes in technology are spurring the rapid
acceleration in online video. Cheap hardware, open-source software,
widespread broadband adoption, and a culture that is more open to
embracing new technology have all created a boom in internet-delivered
video. All this also leads to the proliferation of high-quality,
easy-to-use and easy-to-share online video.

And all these converging factors have led to the next wave of online
video: search. Tuttle is convinced that the next generation of online
video will be a one-stop shop website that will let you search and
find relevant content. Obviously, with the problem of effective,
personalized video search still very far from being solved, this
realization may be several years away, but he asserted that it will be
here sooner than later. There are issues still lurking with video
search, and several of the attendee questions revealed the industry's
desire for standards on how to tag, organize, and find videos. Until
this industry standard is formalized, we will still be struggling to
find our favorite clips of The Daily Show and Mentos/Diet Coke bottle
rockets easily.

ValueClick exceeds expectations; profit up 52%

ValueClick reported third-quarter profit rose 52%, exceeding
expectations, as it benefited from the growth in online advertising.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, ValueClick said profit rose to $16.8
million, or 17 cents a share, from $11 million or 13 cents a share a
year ago. Sales rose to $137.9 million, a 69% increase from the $81.4
million reported a year ago. The results topped the expectations of
analysts, who expected ValueClick to report $134 million in sales and
earnings of 14 cents per share

TBS to Launch Comedy Broadband Network

Turner Broadcasting plans to launch a broadband comedy network in January.

Brightcove Debuts Free Internet TV Network

Internet TV mainstay Brightcove today flipped on the Brightcove
Network, a new service that emphasizes user-generated content by
letting content owners, no matter how small or large, launch their own
commercial Internet video channels at no cost while generating
generate revenue through advertising and video download sales.

IAC Has Strong Q3, Thanks in Part to Ask.com

IAC/InterActiveCorp reported increased revenues, with strong
performance in its media and advertising businesses, including
Ask.com and Citysearch.

Yahoo Wants AOL, Might Itself Be Acquired

Yahoo reportedly approached Time Warner recently about buying AOL; meanwhile,  some analysts are speculating that it would make just as much sense if Yahoo  itself were acquired.

Atlas Goes In-Stream

Marketing technology provider Atlas, an aQuantive company, has launched Atlas In-Stream Video, a platform to inject online advertising into web-based streaming video and round out the full range of banner, search and rich media advertising services already provided by the Atlas Digital Marketing Suite.

Wendys' Stealth Ads Creating Big Stir on YouTube

At first glance they don't appear to be commercials for the fast-food chain, but YouTube users have discovered that Wendys is behind three videos recently uploaded to the video-sharing site. Not everyone is thrilled with the news.

Brightcove Takes on YouTube; Bows Ad, Syndication Networks

Online video solutions firm Brightcove on Monday launched a consumer-destination site in an effort to compete with video-sharing sites such as YouTube, as well as an advertising network and syndication.

Check it here.

The WSJ reports:

The Brightcove Network  has been in test mode for months and already is being used by media and  entertainment companies such as Reuters  Group PLC, Viacom  Inc.'s MTV Networks, and Dow  Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Until now, only  content owners selected by Brightcove could use the network. Now any media company or  professional video-content owner will be able to launch a Web video channel at  Brightcove. Web sites looking for video can then see what is available at the  Brightcove marketplace. The content owner, Brightcove and the Web sites would  then share revenue generated from ad sales and sales of the  videos.

Brightcove's launch  comes as programmers and Internet companies are scrambling to figure out how to  make money from the millions of movies, TV programs and other videos flooding  the Internet. Earlier this month, search titan Google  Inc. agreed to buy YouTube Inc., the video Web site that attracts the most  visitors, for $1.65 billion. Analysts who have been briefed on the Brightcove  Network say it has little chance of catching up with YouTube as a consumer  destination. Also, other sites, such as Revver Inc. and Maven Networks Inc.,  offer Web distribution tools to video owners.

Brightcove also is  launching a consumer site, brightcove.com, today that will initially have  hundreds of thousands of videos provided by its 1,000 or so programming  partners. The site will have a search engine that will enable users to troll the  Internet for other videos. Brightcove also will give Web-site owners the  technological tools to solicit videos from their users, a form of content made  popular by YouTube and similar  sites.

Video owners who post  their content on Brightcove will be able to insert their own ads or ads sold by  Brightcove's sales force. Brightcove also has distribution deals with other  video Web services, including AOL Video, Yahoo Inc.'s Yahoo Video Search and  blinkx, so content owners posting on Brightcove can opt to have their videos  linked to those  services.

Eyespot Raises $3.7 Million in Funding

Eyespot Corp., the leading provider of easy-to-use video editing and mashups applications, today announced that it has closed its Series A funding of $3.7 million. The preferred series offering was led by Gabriel Venture Partners. Other participants include Express Ventures and executives from MP3.com and DivX. The funding will enable the company to further develop its online and mobile products as well as execute its strategy of providing video platform technology to major media companies.

MySpace Implements Unauthorized Copyrighted Music Content Filtering System

MySpace.com today announced it has licensed technology from Gracenote, a leader in global digital entertainment technology, that will allow MySpace to block unauthorized copyrighted music audio recordings from being posted on its site.

Utilizing Gracenote's MusicID audio fingerprinting technology and Global Media Database, MySpace will review all music audio recordings uploaded by community members to their profiles. The technology enables MySpace to identify copyrighted music audio recordings in the Global Media Database for designated rights holders, allowing MySpace to block the uploading of such works.

Greenspan Flips for Flurl

With his venture capital firm LiveUniverse, Intermix founder/MySpace developer Brad Greenspan has purchased a majority stake in online video search engine Flurl.com.

Apple + new patent = iPhone speculation

Apple Computer Inc. won a patent for a speech-recognition technology
earlier this week, fueling speculation that the iPod-maker is laying
the groundwork for a future "iPhone."

Warner to Distribute Music Vids via Brightcove

Warner Music Group, home to labels including Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, and Warner Bros. has hooked up with online TV service Brightcove to give customers on-demand access to Warner's music–related video content. Warner videos include artist interviews, live performances, behind-the-scenes footage, and of course music videos. Warner will be using Brightcove's web-based embedded video player, which can be customized to fit each artist or label. Brightcove's service supports advertising. Warner will be sharing the ad revenue with Brightcove.

Photobucket Adds DivX Media Format to Let Users Share and Publish High-Quality Video

Photobucket, the online personal media company where over 27 million people create, manage and share their digital lives, today announced a partnership with DivX a leading digital media company. Photobucket's users will be able to upload and share personal videos using the high quality DivX video format, and enjoy the flexibility of playing their personal videos on one of the millions of DivX Certified consumer electronics devices in the market today.

KomoTV revamped

KomoTV just relaunched their new site. Congrats for the great job!

Check it here.

News from the Venice Project

The web TV project, being planned by founders of file-swapping service KaZaA and internet phone program Skype, is code-named Venice and will soon - within a month or two - begin providing TV programs to broadband consumers, reports Reuters. "This is a system where people with professional content can put it out (online). And that can be anybody," Friis is quoted as saying.  

He said he has "a lot of people" negotiating with TV production companies worldwide, adding, "We don't want any more lawsuits" - a reference to KaZaA, which was used by people to illegally share copyrighted songs.

MySpace, TBS Sponsor Video Comedy Contest

The competition is heating up for online video talent. Following Yahoo's launch of a video talent contest on Monday, TBS and MySpace on Wednesday jointly announced a separate video competition focusing on stand-up comedy.

Study: One In 10 Watches TV Online

62% of Web users who view TV online watch news clips, while almost half view entertainment, according to a TNS survey. The majority--53%--said they view TV online by streaming it for free, while 49% said they have downloaded shows for free.

PureVideo networks re-launches Stupid Videos

PureVideo Networks, and online video publisher known for its PureVideo
video search engine, has launched a new version of StupidVideos.com.

Coca-Cola Joins Exploding Soda Craze

The Coca-Cola Company has unwittingly played a starring role in one of this year's biggest viral video hits--the exploding Diet Coke-Mentos clips, which show soda spurting out of bottles doctored with Mentos mints. Now, the company is formally embracing the phenomenon. Coca-Cola has forged a deal with Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, the two creators of the first Diet Coke-Mentos clip. This week, Coke unveiled its most recent "Coca-Cola Challenge," which asks consumers to submit video.

Unlike previous versions, this challenge is introduced by an exploding-soda video produced by Grobe and Voltz, who run the viral video production studio EepyBird.com. The challenge, dubbed "Poetry in Motion," calls on Coke drinkers to create interesting or entertaining videos using run-of-the-mill household objects. Coke will also host Grobe and Voltz's upcoming video on Oct. 30.

On May 31, Grobe and Voltz posted the original Diet-Coke Mentos explosion clip on video hosting site Revver. As of Tuesday, the video has been seen over 6 million times, according to Revver, and has inspired thousands of imitators. A recent YouTube search on "Diet Coke and Mentos" turned up 3,282 hits.

DaveTV Launches B2B Video Platform

Dave Networks, which runs video-sharing site DaveTV, has started a white label service that allows businesses to create custom video sites. The business-to-business platform lets organizations set up community sites with social features such as profile pages, blogs and user-generated video tailored to particular brands or affinity groups.

eMarketer: Internet Video Metrics

Google offers personal searches

Users can generate cash from their custom search engines. A bespoke search engine that can be included on people's websites or blogs is the latest offering from Google.

Google Custom Search Engine, as the tool is known, allows users to choose which webpages to search.

ClipBlast! Unveils VideoView

Leveraging its position as the premier video search engine to span the Web in its entirety, ClipBlast! (www.clipblast.com) today unveiled ClipBlast! VideoView™, a weekly benchmark of video supply and demand online. When it debuts on Nov. 6, ClipBlast! VideoView will serve as a snapshot of both what America is watching online and what content providers are making available, on the Web, for the country to watch. Each weekly report will highlight the previous week's top clip, as determined by ClipBlast!'s patent-pending technology. Initially focused on the U.S. market, ClipBlast! VideoView will go global during 2007.

The Google Effect

Too much has  already been written about the Google/YouTube deal--from the jokes on late night  TV to Mark Cuban's firestorm ("only a moron would buy YouTube") to fears of a  fire hose of copyright suits to breathless recounting of the numbers. But, aside  from all the hype, it's important to understand how the deal impacts the online  video advertising industry.  

Credibility  

The quick win for online video advertising is the generous boost  it receives as a category--from the large dollar amount paid to  the Google  brand. As the largest acquisition ever made by Google, it brings the  significance of online video front and center and gives the industry a lot of  good buzz. This is a classic case of a rising tide lifting all boats.  

This is a major wake-up call to traditional TV advertisers that  there is BIG money in online video and that advertising will play a huge part in  its success. As Google has invaded both radio and print, this may very well be  its entrance into the television model. However, instead of working within the  established distribution channels, it is creating its own proprietary channel  and will be able to dictate the laws that govern it.  

The perception of online video has been weighed down by YouTube's  reputation for illegal videos, questionable content and homemade videos of  random people doing idiotic things.  Now, with the Google brand, that perception  is well on its way to changing. If Google can continue to address the copyright  issues (YouTube had already made significant progress with most of the major  media providers on the copyright front) and improve the indexing, searchability  and necessary filters, advertisers will begin to feel comfortable that their  messages won't be tarnished.  

Searchability  

Google's mission statement: "to organize the world's information  and make it universally accessible and useful." Google is really, really good at  search. But in order to provide good search tools, it needs a significant supply  of material to search. Google builds its algorithms to improve searching with  more data to search. But Google Video just wasn't giving it enough to work with.  

So the YouTube acquisition gives Google access to the mother lode  of online video, and I think we can all expect to see vastly improved video  search now. Improved video search helps the industry by driving traffic and  enhancing the user experience. Advertisers can benefit as well from the  development of real-time contextual ad placements. To many, this is the holy  grail, but it is certainly not perfected yet. Whether it's incorporating  metadata, speech or image recognition or another method altogether, the ability  to match a targeted video ad with a relevant piece of content is extremely  valuable. The next step would be to analayze segments of content within a single  long-form clip and then insert ads near those targeted portions.  

Brandability  

Google is very good at providing a robust tool set for advertisers  to auto-bid on ad inventory. These tools are very useful for "direct response"  advertisers. But they're not as proven for traditional "branding" campaigns.  Traditional brand marketers account for the majority of ad budgets--and those  budgets are moving online in droves. According to Advertising.com, the biggest  growth in online advertisers is coming from brand-focused advertisers (32% in  2006, up from 26.5% in 2005).  

Brand marketers are more sensitive to their brand image and  require more human (salesperson) interaction and customized packages. The Google  "machine" for direct response works very well for advertisers who are trying to  spend $1 and make $2. While the nature of their sales process may change, it is  certainly a shift from their proven model.  

So whatever else you may hear about the Google/YouTube deal, it's  a big win for the online video advertising industry. It brings credibility,  searchability and access. Although it's not as clear-cut yet for brand  marketers, the deal will start to clean up the perception of the online video  space, which will go a long way toward raising advertisers' comfort levels.

(Source: MediaPost's Video Insider)

Paramount Pictures Sells Movie Downloads On AOL

Paramount pictures has started selling full-length movies on AOL, joining other major studios including 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. Films available for download on AOL at prices ranging from $9.99 to $19.99 include recent and older movies. With the addition of the Paramount titles, AOL now sells more than 300 movies from the major studios.

MTV Vet Launches Travel Video Site

Formally launched today, Travelistic aims to be the YouTube of online travel, where people can post videos and share travel experiences and tips using social networking features like tagging and user profile pages.

Fox Draws 20% Of Streaming Video Market

U.S. Internet video streaming market in August

Fox Interactive 20% (39.5M streams, 35.5 streams/user)
Yahoo 11.8% (39.9M streams 20.6 streams/user)
YouTube.com 9.9% (35.5M streams 19.4streams/user)
Viacom Digital 4.1%
Time Warner Network 3.4%

Total: 6.98B streams; audience growth: +4% (64% US population)

(Source: ComScore)

Target Sponsors New Video On ELLEgirl.com

ELLEgirl, which earlier this year shuttered its print operations in
favor of online-only distribution, will relaunch Monday with original
video, mobile text alerts and new personalization features. The video
clips will include a series about four readers who hope to break into
the modeling industry, a segment about women students at a Tufts
University engineering program, and previews of the Fox television
show "The O.C."

Merrill Lynch Recommends aQuantive

The securities firm recommended investors begin acquiring shares of
aQuantive, citing it as strong play as marketers accelerate the shift
in marketing expenditures to digital media.

Viacom Signs Deal With China's Baidu

Media giant Viacom will provide television and music video content to
a major Chinese internet provider.

Google To Pocket 25% of Web Ad Spend

In a new report from eMarketer, an online market research firm,
online search giant Google is on track to pocket 25% of the United
States online ad spend for calendar year 2006. This kind of dominance
over the online market is unprecedented.

Social Network for 'Opinion Drivers' Debuts

Hotsoup.com, a social networking site aimed at "opinion drivers" who wish to  debate political issues, debuted today.

Check it here

Undertone Networks Clients See Uptick With Online Video Advertising

Undertone Networks, a premier online advertising network announced today that it has launched a new turnkey online video advertising solution, Undertone Video. Video services from Undertone now include the addition of pre-roll video to its advertising network, allowing brand and direct response customers to improve their online advertising effectiveness.

American Airlines, Cingular Wireless, and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company are the first advertisers to work with Undertone Video. Based on the initial results, Undertone Video delivered brand exposure along with click through rates of as high as 3.5%.

Jambo Launches Video Jambo-ree for Publishers

Jambo Media, publisher of JamboTV.com, a video portal for news and
entertainment, has launched the Jambo Video Network, a service that
lets web publishers incorporate video into their sites.

The network lets publishers embed video into an existing page, just
like they would embed an advertising banner. It also lets publishers
create a separate page strictly for video. Jambo is banking on online
video's power to draw visitors back to a site, and hopes that both it
and its publishers can earn extra revenue in the process. The videos
are free, supported by pre-roll advertising, with Jambo and the
publishers splitting the ad revenue.

A view of Panama

VideoEgg Expands Sales Team

VideoEgg Tuesday announced the addition of three new executives to
its sales team, adding a vice president of sales, a director of
network development, and an account executive.

Universal Sues Video Sites Bolt, Grouper

Universal Music group took aim at video-sharing sites this week, with a copyright infringement lawsuit against Bolt Media and Grouper Networks.  The lawsuit charges the sites with hosting Universal-owned clips, and seeks $150,000 damages for each piece of infringing content.

"User generated sites like Grouper and Bolt, that derive so much of their value from the traffic that our videos, recordings and songs generate, cannot reasonably expect to build their business on the backs of our content and the hard work of our artists and songwriters--without permission and without in any way compensating the content creators," Universal Music said in a statement.
(...) Grouper--acquired by Sony for $65 million six weeks ago--denied that the company violated Universal's copyrights.(...) Grouper complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which contains a "safe harbor" provision that protects Web hosts from liability if they remove copyrighted material when owners complain. A Bolt Media spokeswoman also stated that the company always takes down any copyrighted clips as soon as it's notified of complaints.

Source: MediaPost.

Yahoo Launches New Search Ad Platform

Yahoo CEO Terry Semel announced Tuesday that the company's  long-awaited new ad-serving platform, known as Panama, had gone live. Semel, who  made the announcement during a conference call discussing third-quarter earnings  results, said the company has started asking U.S. advertisers to switch to the  new system.

Social Network Users Becoming Immune to Ads

At least to members of social-networking sites, recommendations from friends  and fellow users of social-networking sites now carry more sway than traditional  media, a new study finds.

Study: Out-of-Context Behavioral Ads Convert Better

A new report by BlueLithium's BL Labs finds that behavioral ads result in  higher click-through rates when shown in a contextually relevant category, but  are more likely to lead to a conversion when viewed out of context.

CNET officially launches TV Web site; signs deal with Verizon

CNET Networks announced the official launch of CNET TV (www.cnettv.com),  a Web site that telecasts news and product reviews. CNET also announced a  partnership with Verizon Communications to distribute CNET's video segments  through on-demand television. CNET has similar deals with Cox Communications and  TiVo Inc. for its videos.

Yahoo to Buy AdInterax

Yahoo Inc. said Tuesday it agreed to acquire AdInterax, which helps companies make and manage online advertising that incorporates animation and video, for an undisclosed amount.Yahoo said buying the Troy, N.Y.-based company will help it provide rich media advertising creation and campaign management tools to marketers. Fysix Corp., doing business as AdInterax, developed tools for building floating animations, expandable banners and streaming video. The technology also offers tracking and reporting capabilities.

Instant Media Signs Pact with Universal Studios Home Entertainment to Offer Movie Downloads via Broadband

Instant Media (I'M), a privately-held technology company pioneering Internet TV, announced today that it will offer movie titles from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, utilizing I'M's recently released commerce capabilities to allow viewers to download their favorite movies over the Internet. The agreement with Universal Studios Home Entertainment is one of many that will enable I'M to make available a wide variety of blockbuster movies and popular television shows to consumers who download the free I'M player at www.im.com.

CBS and Yahoo

CBS and Yahoo unveiled yet another variation. A new deal between the companies calls for Yahoo to start offering news clips from 16 local CBS affiliates. Each will offer between 10 and 20 news video clips per day, while Yahoo will sell ads and share the revenue with CBS.

Media Titans Pressure YouTube Over Copyrights

Some quotes from a WSJ article, this week end:
"(...) But lawyers for the  group of media companies, which includes News Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC  Universal and Viacom Inc., have concluded that YouTube could be liable to  copyright penalties of $150,000 per unauthorized video, people familiar the  matter say. Viacom believes that pirated versions of video clips from its cable  channels -- including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon -- are watched 80,000  times a day via YouTube. At that rate, potential penalties could run into the  billions of dollars. Time Warner Inc.  hasn't joined the group, but has also warned YouTube about what it considers to  be the site's repeated infringement of its copyrights. In an interview that  appeared in Britain's Guardian newspaper Friday, Time Warner Chief Executive  Richard Parsons made ominous hints about what course he would pursue if YouTube  doesn't agree to a deal.
(...) On the one hand, they fear its size and clout. On the  other hand, the media companies know that Google can be a valuable partner in  distributing their content around the Web and also in drawing advertising.  Indeed, Google already has separate links through partnerships and ownership  stakes to a number of media companies, a fact that could ease the companies'  negotiations with  YouTube.
(...) So far, YouTube has struck deals  with TV companies NBC Universal, CBS Corp. and with most of the major music  companies, including Warner Music Group Corp., Vivendi SA's Universal Music  Group and Sony Corp.'s and Bertelsmann AG's joint venture. YouTube is building a  system that would help automate identification of videos containing copyright  material on its site, and allow the content owners to get a portion of any  related ad revenue.
(...) According to John Palfrey, an  intellectual-property professor at Harvard Law  School, media companies  will argue that YouTube shouldn't fall within the safe-harbor protections of the  copyright law because, among other reasons, YouTube is deriving direct financial  benefit from the infringement."

Internap to Acquire VitalStream

Combination Will Unite Performance Network Services  Provider with Video Streaming and Content Monetization  Leader
(...) Internap will issue approximately 11.9 million shares of common stock in respect  of outstanding VitalStream common shares, which will represent approximately 26%  of the combined company's shares. (...)The transaction is valued at an  aggregate purchase price of approximately $217 million. (...) The combined company will result  in:  Internap  holding a market leadership position delivering streaming media content; Internap's  ability to access the high-growth streaming media and on-line advertising  segments; The  strongest, most complete product line in content delivery solutions, content  monetization, and on-line advertising; Significant  new organic growth potential coupled with cross selling opportunities.
(...) By  combining the two companies' product lines, Internap will be able to meet the  needs of customers seeking to both deliver rich media content to their users and  monetize that content. The combination of VitalStream's content delivery  services, content management tools and particular expertise in Adobe (formerly  Macromedia) Flash technology, with Internap's high performance route management  network, will enable the new organization to easily address the needs of  enterprises seeking to deliver large format media files in a streamed  environment. The combined offering will be the strongest and most comprehensive  available in the industry today.

(Source: YahooBiz)

Google Makes Friends with Macs

Google has launched a blog and a website geared specifically to users of Apple's Macintosh computers. Both sites feature a shinier Mac-centric Google logo that matches the feel of Apple's current design motif. Currently, Google's new Mac page lists several of Google's Mac-specific software downloads like Google's Mac widgets and the Mac versions of Google Earth and Picasa uploader.

Check it here.

Will YouTube be sued?

Here's an abstract from an interview given by Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred von Lohmann to John Battelle:

"(...) when most people think about potential legal liability for YouTube, they are thinking about potential copyright risks. And although nothing in the Internet legal realm is entirely certain, YouTube looks to be on relatively firm legal ground. Unlike some more aggressive companies (like the old Napster), YouTube has the benefit of a set of special "safe harbors" created for online service providers as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If your activities fall within the safe harbors, as defined in Section 512 of the Copyright Act, you can't be liable for money damages for copyright infringement based on those activities. There is a different safe harbor for each of the following activities: providing network access ( e.g., your ISP), caching, storing material on behalf of uses (e.g., web hosting), and providing information location tools (e.g., search engines and linking).

One of those DMCA safe harbors was designed to protect providers of hosting services. When it was passed, Congress had big web hosting services in mind, but the rules work just as well for video hosting services (like YouTube), blog hosting (like Blogger), and music lockering (like MP3Tunes). There are a number of requirements that a hosting provider must meet, but the most important one is the implementation of a "notice-and-takedown" policy. YouTube has such a policy in place, allowing copyright owners to notify it of infringing videos and taking them down promptly upon receiving such a notice. Other requirements include implementing a policy of terminating "repeat infringers," which YouTube also has, and registering a "copyright agent" with the Copyright Office, which YouTube has done.

The outer boundaries of the DMCA safe harbors are still being hammered out in court (porn vendor Perfect 10 has been leading the charge on behalf of copyright owners on this legal front). And it's not just YouTube that is interested in these legal fights -- because any legal precedents undermining the safe harbor would put Google, Yahoo, AOL, MySpace, eBay and others at risk--the biggest Internet players have a stake in the outcome.  But so far, so good for YouTube. It looks like YouTube is working hard to keep its boat in sheltered copyright waters. (...)"

For the full interview, click here.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

The last one from Google:
"Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a web-based word-processing and spreadsheet product that makes it easier for people to create, manage, and share documents and spreadsheets online. Google Docs & Spreadsheets integrates Writely and Google Spreadsheets into a single, easy-to-use product that takes an innovative approach to a very specific problem in the productivity-software space: enabling people to manage and collaborate on the documents and spreadsheets they rely on in their personal and professional lives, no matter where they are or when they need to access them."

Merrill Lynch: Digital Ads To Grow 30%

MediaPost reports:
"BROKERAGE HOUSE MERRILL LYNCH WEDNESDAY lowered its overall ad forecast to 4.7 percent U.S. growth, down from its previous projection of 5.1 percent. But Internet advertising is expected to continue to show strength, as advertisers shift budgets to emerging media, including mobile advertising, games, and video on demand. The brokerage house predicted that online advertising, excluding newspaper online classifieds, would grow at 29.4 percent--up from its previous projection of 29.1 percent."

InfoSpace Sheds 40% Of Staff

After  recently losing a key carrier client, mobile media supplier InfoSpace Inc.  announced plans to lay off 250 employees, or 40 percent of its workforce.  InfoSpace last month said that one of its major wireless carrier  customers--believed to be Cingular--would stop buying ringtones and graphics  from InfoSpace and pursue direct relationships with record labels in early 2007.

iTunes Offers PBS Shows

PBS is making its popular shows including "Nova," available on Apple's iTunes download store. New additions to iTunes include "Antiques Roadshow," "Now," and "Scientific American Frontiers," plus kids' shows "Arthur," "Cyberchase," and "Fetch!"

Google developing enterprise ad serving product and SEM services

(...) Our due diligence suggests  that Google is in  the process of building a large scale enterprise ad serving product, which the  company plans to offer for free to publishers and  advertisers. While we don't have any knowledge of the timing of  the product release, we have confirmed with two Top 50 Internet publishers and a  channel partner that the project is well underway. If successful, we believe a  widelyadopted ad serving product could give Google valuable data on pricing,  click through rates, and conversions in the broader branded/display market. That  kind of information could help Google launch its nascent display advertising  initiative and accelerate the monetization of network display advertising  inventory.  

We have also learned from industry  sources that Google is building out a "massive India-based account management  team that will perform much of the work that SEM firms currently handle,"  including keyword generation, ad copy creation/testing, campaign structuring,  ROI analysis, landing page testing, and bid management. (...)"

(Source: JMP Research)

YouTube in Universal Music, CBS Video and Ad Deals

Universal Music Group and YouTube have ended their digital-rights/copyright  dispute  and signed a distribution deal; YouTube also signed a strategic content and  advertising partnership with CBS.

Microsoft Inks Web Video Search Deal with Blinkx

Microsoft has partnered with Blinkx to use its video search technology on  Live.com and some parts of its MSN site.

Merrill Lynch Neutral On ValueClick

Merryl Lynch debuted coverage of ad network ValueClick, giving the company a "neutral" rating in its inaugural report. Merrill Lynch research analyst Lauren Rich Fine wrote that she sees benefits in ValueClick's large ad network of more than 13,500 Web sites, but also views the prospect of competition from Google, Yahoo and MSN as a potential drawback.    

"The scale of ValueClick's network now makes it an important buy for many advertisers," stated the report. But, the report continued, Google has started selling display ads, while Yahoo and MSN also appear poised to offer display ads to their publishing partners. "Google, Yahoo and MSN's financial resources certainly are much greater than ValueClick's," Fine wrote. The report, however, stopped short of predicting that ValueClick would be crowded out of the ad network market. "The Google's, Yahoo's, and MSN's of the world might have other bigger fish to fry," stated the report. Merrill Lynch also predicted that ValueClick stands to gain from the continued migration of ad dollars to the Web. "Dollars are coming from other traditional mediums such as newspapers, magazines and TV, but the medium is also expanding the pie," states the report. "ValueClick will benefit from this secular shift as it focuses on continuing to educate and assist advertisers about how to best use the medium and reach their target audiences."

(Source: MediaPost)