One Small Step for Video Ad Standards. One Giant Leap for Creators and Brands. May 7, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Future of Online Video, Google, Making Money, Video Advertising, Video Business, YouTube, advertising, google video , 10commentsOne of the factors that has limited the growth of online-video advertising is the production and traffic work. Mike Shields of Mediaweek reports that the Interactive Advertising Bureau this week introduced a set of guidelines to standartize online-video advertising and make the medium “easier for advertisers to buy.”
The new guidelines cover three basic forms of online video ad formats: linear ads — interruptive video spots which are typically of the pre-roll variety, non-linear ads — which include the increasingly popular ‘overlay’ ad units, and companion ads — bannerlike ads that appear alongside video as it plays on the Web.
The guidelines, writes Shields, are the product of work conducted by the IAB’s Digital Video Committee, which is composed of 145 leading media companies, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. “This is a historic day,” IAB president and CEO Randall Rothenberg said, likening the announcement to a similar set of landmark guidelines put in place for banner advertising in the late 1990s. IAB senior vp David Doty said he thinks leadership and marketing, predicted “seismic shifts” would occur in the online ad business as a result of their adoption.
So while the viewer in me isn’t too excited to see the new “interruptive video spots,” the creator and marketer in me looks forward to the possibility that this may unlock some of the potential of this medium.
In related news, tech writer Leah Messinger writes about other sites beyond YouTube that offer advertising models brands can consider.
Doritos Video Contest April 21, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Contest, Online Video, YouTube, advertising, popular videos , 11comments
So there’s a galary of amateur videos (consumer-generated advertising) posted on Doritos’ UK website, including this classic Davideo hit. He’s the UK creator of the exploding Diet Pepsi Mentos girl, and one of my favorites in the use of abstract video animation (so be sure to rate it if “five sizzling chips” if you like it too).
It’s another agency produced flash site, so no direct links to the videos are provided, but it’s called “Just Can’t Wait.” So you have to go to the site, skip the intro, click “Just Can’t Wait” and vote. At least you don’t have to friggin’ register to vote.
Dear agencies: when are we going to learn that it’s cost prohibitive and unnecessary to create a custom site with subpar video players? To its credit, Doritos also set up a YouTube channel that features “Just Can’t Wait,” but I’m not sure votes count there.
Here’s another brave entrant featuring a guy whose tongue burns off. Kinda gross (as reflected by the votes) but has the most views.
RIP for Paid Content (bring on the ads) April 17, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Future of Online Video, advertising , 15commentsIt’s pretty clear that consumers are hesitant to buy professional video content much less amateur content. Given that I’ve sold exactly 13 copies of my “best of Nalts DVD” it’s no surprise to me to see that Brightcove is abandoning its “pay for content” model:
On July 31, 2008, we plan to discontinue the Pay Media (Beta) functionality within Brightcove. The Pay Media functionality allows publishers to rent or sell their content directly to consumers. Since its beta release in January 2007, less than 1% of our customers have tried the feature and an even smaller percentage of our customers use it routinely. Given the minimal adoption of Pay Media and the feedback we have received from the market, we are going to discontinue this beta functionality.
Too bad. I was thinking about selling “White Bucks” for $250.
The Best of Cats on Skateboards (YouTube Advertising) April 8, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Nalts, Online Video, Video Advertising, Video Business, YouTube, advertising , 23commentsIt’s the biggest myth of online-video advertising. If a brand advertises on YouTube it will appear with consumer-generated media that includes such content as cats on skateboarders. TVweek’s “New Media Minute,” hosted by Daisy Whitney, featured a recent interview with YouTube’s Jordan Hoffner to set the record straight (via WebVideoReport).
Naturally I couldn’t resist a parody that includes Hoffner’s “that never happens” quote in a montage of nostalgic ads mixed with cat’s skateboarding. Here’s hoping Hoffner can laugh at the parody. I’m a YouTube Partner (paid content creator), but I didn’t monetize this puppy, Jordan.
Brilliant Ad Placement or Luck April 4, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Making Videos, Online Video, Video Advertising, YouTube, advertising , 8commentsHere’s my video about LisaNova (a prominent YouTuber that broke her streak of sketch comedies by vlogging). I fake an accident in my Toyota.
And how appropriate. A Toyota ad right there. Maybe it’s time to buy a Corrolla.
Any discounts if I promise to show it on camera?
Survey of Video Advertising Rates April 2, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Sites, YouTube, advertising , 7commentsWeb Video Report polled a number of online-video outlets, and it seems that $25 CPM (cost per thousand) is the norm, with slight variances based on the quality and “targetability” of the content. After a quick scan, you’ll get insights from the comments by Mike Abundo and Paul Kontonis.
Exclusive, Leaked BS: How to Manipulate YouTube April 2, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Making Videos, Online Video, Viral Video, YouTube, advertising, popular videos , 3comments
All the bad advice on how to manipulate YouTube in one handy video. Where do I start?
Buried in this, actually, is some good advice… Like being creative about tagging with less competitive terms. And keeping a video shocking and fast, and coming up with clever names and thumbnails.
But much of it is futile (pay blogs to post, create fake accounts, use fake and misleading headlines with “exclusive” and “leaked”). I am hoping it’s subtle satire.
Some of the ideas are based on Dan Ackerman Greenberg, who received notoriety last November in TechCrunch for revealing his tricks (and some legitimate strategies) that help marketers spread viral videos. Here’s Dan on CNN discussing his tricks o’ the trade from San Francisco. I was so amused and perplexed by Dan that I created a special URL for him last year (per this post): www.viralvideovillain.com. I still want to meet you, Dan. We can pretend we’re the witches from The Wizard of Oz.
That said, the creator (RunawayBox) made this video a reply to CakkeTeam’s beloved “Internet Stars are Viral.” And I kinda like that video because I’m in it. Dang shame it never went very viral…
Rick Astley Makes Come Back With “Never Gonna Give You Up” April 1, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Viral Video, YouTube, advertising , 13comments
Warning: YouTube prank spoiler here. If you haven’t spent some time on YouTube’s homepage today, stop reading immediately.
If you have been there, you might have noticed that each of the attractive thumbnails take you to the same video. Rick Astley’s supah cheesy “Never Gonna Give You Up.” You’ve been “rickrolled.”
My hats off to the person that sold this internally. I’ve watched this video recently, and I’m quite sure I didn’t find it on my own. I wish I could remember where I found it. According to Wikipedia, Around the year 2007, posting mislabeled links to the video on the Internet became popular, in a prank known as “rickrolling.”
I can just hear the discussion at a YouTube “April’s Fool Brainstorming” meeting last week in San Bruno.
- The prankster: So here’s my big idea. All these captivating homepage thumbnails, but every click goes to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
- Stephen Chen: Who? Who’s Ricky Ashley?
- Prankster: A 1980s star. When were you bor… never mind.
- Editorial: That would give Astley an unfair advantage above other 1980s musicians trying to lift themselves out of oblivian. Like Weird Al. Then again, he’s big on Revver.
- Tall, Balding Advertising Guy: It would give him millions and millions of views. Would we charge his agent a CPM or “per click”?
- Community Lady: Who invited the bald guy with the bad breath? Anyway, I’m not sure people will get it. And they may get annoyed.
- Advertising Guy: Wait, Goth Lady- can we host the video and take 100% of the advertising revenue? Like we’d just post it on a “house” partner’s account?
- Stephen Chen: I don’t know. I’d rather go back to the original idea of putting the logo upside down. That smacks of comedic brilliance.
- Mark Day: Righto, Stephen! That’s hysterical. Upside down logo.
LOLLOLLLOLLLL. I can hear them now: “hey, is my computer upside down?” Can I walk you to your car. Mr. Chen? It looks like it’s raining again. - Stephen Chen: Yes, Smithers. Then it’s settled (he says dismissively, before leaving conference room with Mark Day by side).
- Technical Guy: I liked your idea.
- Prankster: Sighs. Well it would have been funny.
- Technical Guy: Correction- it will be funny.
- Prankster: Won’t Stephen get pissed?
- Technical Guy: Nope. He hasn’t visited YouTube in 11 weeks. He’ll never know.
- Stephen Chen (voice audible from hallway): Mark, I’d just assume you wait out here while I pee. I’m not sure I want the world knowing I drop my pants and undies below my knees when using the urinal.
Is Yahoo TV Closing or Widening Chasm Between Online Video & Television? March 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Making Money, Making Videos, Online Video, Video Advertising, Video Business, Yahoo Video, YouTube, advertising , 13comments
Which online-video site is mostly likely to be part of the bridge between television and the Internet? You can fault the model, and question it’s sustainability. But Yahoo TV is well poised to leverage its partnerships with Verizon and TiVo to start serving its bite-sized video content via television sets equipped with broadband boxes.
Take, for example, Yahoo TV’s “Prime Time in No Time,” a show hosted by Frank Nicotero that recaps the prior evening’s television shows. It’s interesting on at least two levels:
- It appeals to TV junkies. I’m not sure there’s a market for general prime-time recaps (since audiences tend to form around tighter niches). But it’s clearly targeted at TV viewers who maybe need some hand holding to start consuming via Yahoo’s mini-TV play. With some prime time promotion, I can see this audience growing.
- The ad model is interesting. Verizon gets a brief intro (not a preroll that I noticed), some banner wrap-arounds, and even a logo tucked nicely in the host’s corner frame. It’s dominant without being obtrusive.
So we’re still in the infancy of the “TV and online video” collision, which is clearly going to take much more time than we hoped. I’m far less interested in television administered in once-a-day pills (instead of intravanious drips). I find the more fascinating side to be the amateur creators gaining broader exposure than they currently get (assuming they’re good enough, and have consistent content that appeal to steady audiences even if relatively small).
While YouTube is still better poised for the latter, Yahoo comes at the web more like AOL: looking more like TV on the computer than web video as most consume it now. So we see less and more polished content, but fairly superficial interaction between the content and its audience. It’s still “one to many” unlike the magic of online video “many to many” play.
It’s Amazon not eBay.
As an example, one of my few popular videos on Yahoo has 90K views but just 90 comments. While one in a thousand comment on Yahoo Video, most of my YouTube videos get 1-2 percent of viewers commenting. My Mac Air spoof got 27K views with 13 comments, while the same Mac Air spoof on YouTube got 374K views and 1564 comments.
Typically the initial online successes are “pure plays” and not an offline entity moving in. This is true with almost any industry: gaming, retail, travel and media. But it will take a few failures along the way. YahooTV is bringing TV and online video ever so slightly closer together — even if it ends up being a log over the river.
Note that Yahoo Video (the quasi amateur section) still exists, but it’s not part of the primary menu on Yahoo. In fact, I almost gave up in my search for it, so it’s not likely drawing in many Yahoo users (Alexa won’t let me isolate http://video.yahoo.com/ from Yahoo.com, so I don’t know how it’s fairing). The featured videos seem to get paltry views relative to YouTube features, and even the Yahoo Video Awards blog post has just 35 comments 4 days after announced (by contrast, most top 100 YouTubers get that kind of views and interactions within an hour of posting).
P.S. Updated 3/27: Check out what InsideOnlineVideo has to say about Yahoo.
Viral Video & Seeding March 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Viral Video, YouTube, advertising , 4commentsTwo interesting articles about online-video “seeding” and viral marketing in general, and a few of my favorite quotes:
Josh Warner, head of Feed Co., a video-seeding outfit in Los Angeles, describes in AdAge his efforts to promote Obama. Who I had a dream about last night, but probably because my wife told me three times she’s registered as a Democrat. I thought I married a Republican, dangit. Then again, Obama’s bumper stickers are pretty cool. And he’s the first candidate that has instilled optimism since Kennedy or Reagan I think.
For most of our consumer-brand seeding campaigns, we guarantee minimum views of 250,000. After all, you can’t call your video “viral” if no one is watching it. Video seeding not only gets your video out there and puts it in front of people likely to pass it around, it’s a great way to stretch a budget — for a political candidate, entertainment company or advertiser.
Andreas Roell in iMedia Connection has a story about viral marketing. You actually have to click through each section, so don’t think it’s only a few paragraphs.
Viral marketing is the oldest and most trusted form of advertising, and the internet is a modern-day digital watering hole.