Category Archives: book

Blogs on Video, book, Video Advertising, Video Business

Terrific Post on Engadget About Online Videos & Money Making

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endgadget.jpgI love this post from Engadget. It's about YouTube and its costs and profitability. Engadget estimates that YouTube probably pays about a million a month in broadband. Given that it has recent funding of about $8 million, it's only bought itself the summer to show that it can profit.

Engadget traces the history of sites that start with free to prove the worth, and then migrate to models that are substantiated by ads or charge visitors. Certainly the former makes more sense since I don't see us soon paying another monthly fee (beyond broadband, cell, cable TV, etc.).

Check out the Engadget article, and this brief from AdJab that calles YouTube the 5th network.

book, Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Sites

Is A 15-Second Ad Every 3 Clips Fair?

What's the tolerance for ads before online videos? I kinda like the Office Pirates model of one 15-second ad before every third video. Obviously we'd all like to watch our videos without ads, but then we'd have to pay for them or the companies would go the route of www.Chapter11TV.com.

On the continuum, iFilm is probably the most aggressive and Google Video the most laid back about ads. Think that will change? I see us moving to a model somewhere between iFilm and Google… and 15-seconds every third video seems fair.

book, Killer Video, Uncategorized, Video Advertising, Video Sites

Soup of the Day Video Series

soup.jpgAs web videos and television videos lose their distinction, we're obviously going to see some online videos that are series. Here's the first I've uncovered. It's called "Soup of the Day" and highlights the life of Brandon Craig, a 28-year-old freelance photographer that is dating three attractive women. To understand the series, you need to visit this page, and begin with "serving one."

It's a nice marketing idea. The production and acting quality is pretty decent, so costs weren't inconsequential. So I'll be interested to see how they introduce ads or services to generate revenue.

book, Video Advertising, Video Business

Buy Some Post-It Notes

GodfreyGuy.jpg

Remember when FLASHY banners were hot? I used to have a pack of post-its that I'd tape over the banner so I could read without distraction. Time to buy 3M stock.

About.com recently announced it will use Brightcove to stream online videos on its site. Here's what you can expect: "Nearly all of these video clips will include standard pre-roll ads… Included will be player-integrated expandable billboards, a full player takeover unit, an interactive overlay unit which lands above the video window, as well as live-read promotional announcements from the expert guides themselves."

It's somewhat true that About.com sees its visitors as a revenue stream and desperate advertisers as its primary customers. But the dawn of online video… embedded everywhere you go online… raises frightening prospects of how commercial things may become… even on sites that try to balance visitor needs with advertising goals.

book, Video Advertising, Video Business, Video Sites, Web 2.0

Google and AOL and Video Ads Online

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Interesting news. Google will offer video ads through Adsense in a very "non-intrusive" way… meaning the visitor would have to select it before it loads (thank goodness). What I find most intriguing is that Google seems to offer this for its partners (any site that "syndicates" Google ads via Adsense to make money). But apparently they won't be using these on Google itself. Why?

Let's pray that Madison Avenue takes advantage of this new vehicle by creating fun ads. Not 15-30 second pieces that work for a captive audience watching American Idol* without a TiVo remote. But a busy web searcher that, if not entertained, is moving on quickly.

On a related note, AOL bought LighteningCast recently, which gives them the ability to insert ads into video content. According to MSNBC, this gives AOL the ability "run targeted ads within video and even change ads from time to time without replacing the entire video file."

* We at WillVideoForFood are big Catherine fans, but we think Hicks is our next Idol.

book, Video Sites, Web 2.0

The Bloody Battle: Networks vs. Online Video Sites

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It’s not the first, and it won’t be the last. This time C-Span has demanded that YouTube and iFilm remove the video of Stephen Colbert’s April 29 performance at the White House Correspondents Association. So the battle continues, and the online video properties are going to be pressured to filter content or become “Napsterized.” To see the “approved” version of this video, you’ll need to visit Google Video. Now I wonder what Colbert thinks of all of this. And I wonder if his agent minds if we use his image in this post.

Colbert

book, Online Video

Welcome to “Will Video for Food”

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Welcome to “WillWorkForVideo.” This blog is a spinoff from Revverberation, the unofficial blog for Revver.com (a site that provides video creators with 50% of the ad revenue generated by their clips). Revver is launching a much more evolved platform for Revver fans (and I plan to be an active participant). In addition, I wanted a more site-neutral blog to discuss the myriad of ways that amateur videographers can make money on their short, viral videos. For those of you new, I post short videos on Revver as Nalts, and operate the widly amateur website CubeBreak.com, which provides funny and weird videos for bored cube workers (my stuff and other fun videos that people submit or that I discover on Revver).