Media Update - Aug 2012

Good Metadata Is A Brand-Safety Tool

Who’s going to be the next startup to succeed in online video?

That’s the big question -- and I won’t promise to have any answers, but I can share with you a video report from Beet.TV commentator Ashley Swartz that has me now keeping an eye on two companies in the metadata arena -- Veenome and Watchwith. As metadata practitioners, they do the work of brand safety, which means they could easily fit in the ranks of firms that offer tools and technology to police ads for content or verify placement, for instance.

Former Digitas emerging media expert Ashley Swartz said in her report that as video proliferates on the Web, it won’t have as much value to marketers until more data and information is attached to it. Metadata is needed for the video advertising revolution to actually flourish, she said.

Veenome and Watchwith handle the heavy lifting of that process. Veenome’s technology identifies the visual contents in video and translates them into tags, keywords, categories and more. Video platforms, publishers and ad networks can then use that information to boost ad revenue and effectiveness, the company said. Veenome has logged some early success with video publisher Videofy.me, which has boosted online video CPMs more than 114% by using Veenome’s tools to segment content into more ad-friendly categories -- essentially, acting as a filter to keep out the suggestive, offensive or copyrighted content. Veenome has also worked with music-centric social video service UGroove to index its videos, making it easier for the service to sell ads against them. UGroove also uses Veenome to tag its brand customers in videos and generate targeted ads that way.

Watchwith studies video and builds metadata synched to the time the information appears in the video. Its tools can be used to identify actors, music or locations, or on a custom basis to tag plot points or backstory.

Veenome and Watchwith are not the only companies betting on metadata. Digitalsmiths is a more established player and it has been building product suites for media companies that are used to better understand, identify and manage video assets and then make money on them. Digitalsmiths’ latest products allow customers to pick videos by their mood.

Keep an eye on these and other players that are betting on metadata. Their tools may be just as valuable as those from companies offering measurement, brand safety and cross-media buying services.



'NYT' Relaunches Online Video

The New York Times has relaunched its online video platform at NYTimes.com, with a new design, larger player and improved navigation. The revamped platform is designed to be compatible with multiple operating systems and devices, including the Web, smartphones and tablets.

The NYT’s mobile apps have also had their video components upgraded.

Under the new system, videos are organized into channel pages based on their subjects, with categories including News/TimesCast, editor’s choice, world, U.S., business, science, opinion, arts, style, sports and “latest news." Top-of-page navigation tools are intended to make it easier to browse the archive.

This is just the latest in a series of digital relaunches and upgrades at the NYT.

In May, the newspaper announced it was updating its iPhone and iPad apps to enable customized reading. The new versions include automatic overnight content downloads, allowing users to minimize the need for tedious downloads during high-traffic periods. It also allows users to choose which content sections and blogs they are interested in, saving on unnecessary bandwidth and data fees.

Also on Monday, the New York Times Co. announced that it sold its About.com business (including ConsumerSearch.com and CalorieCount.com) to IAC for $300 million in order to focus on its core businesses in news media.

These digital moves come as the newspaper forges ahead with the digital subscription strategy implemented in April 2011. At the end of the second quarter, the company had around 532,000 subscribers paying for digital editions, up from 472,000 at the end of the first quarter.

The new digital subs helped raise the company’s total circulation revenues from 8.3% -- from $215 million in the second quarter of 2011 to $233 million in the second quarter of 2012.



Web Connected TV Users Prefer Ads Over Fees For Video And Streamed TV

According to YuMe and research firm Frank N. Magid Associates, 30% of all Internet homes have TVs connected to the Internet, and users of those sets are generally receptive to advertisements and ad-supported business models.

Almost 90% of connected TV users reported that they noticed ads on the platform, with 60% noticing pre-rolls. The majority of those users also interacted with ads and 19% of users subsequently purchased a product as a result of an ad they've seen on connected TV.

Travis Hockersmith, senior director of client strategy at YuMe, points out that “... like any nascent medium, it is difficult to find baseline information that would help advertisers make informed decisions... much (like) the early days of the internet... users weren't yet bombarded with ads... engagement and ad recall were much higher... “

59% of viewers of short-form video on connected TVs and 44% of those streaming TV shows preferred viewing 15- or 30-second ads over monthly subscription or the pay-per-view model. For movies, however, more than six in 10 users preferred either subscription or PPV models over ad-supported viewing.

Hockersmith continued, “... users of connected TVs seemed willing to watch ads in exchange for getting free content... for TV length content, they would rather see ads than pay for the content... movie viewers were much more willing to accept subscription or PPV models.

The report note that game consoles were the most popular with Internet connected TVs, with 77% of connected TVs connected to a game console, 34% connected to a Blu-ray player, 28% being a smart TV with an internal internet connection and 25% hooking up a streaming device or set-top-box.

Other significant findings from the study include:

The living room was the most popular room to have a connected TV, with 52% reporting they had a TV hooked up to the internet in the living room, followed by the bedroom (47%) and the family room (29%)
The most popular connected TV apps were Netflix (with 52% saying they used the service), followed by YouTube (47%), Hulu (28%) and Amazon (19%)
Overall the connected TV users were young and skewed male
About 24% of users viewed TV shows on networks several times a week, while 29% watched TV shows streamed from the internet multiple times per week

Jivox, Music Interactive Create Free Tune Downloads From Ads

Publishers want to give readers freebees, but not if it means the visitor must jump to an advertiser's site when they download the content or run a video. If the brand requires a Twitter tweet in exchange for the free content--all the better.

Social sharing and video views led Music Interactive to bring publishers an ad unit allowing site visitors to download a free piece of music in exchange for a tweet, according to Trey Shelton, CEO and founder of Music Interactive. The Web site visitor would have a choice from one of three pre-populated messages, such as "I just downloaded 'Yes' from Chad Brock on WaPo."

The social element expands on an ad unit Music Interactive rolled out Thursday with Jivox that allows users to share the ad on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. The unit, Maestro, features a video ad with a music reward in a variety of formats, including the IAB Rising Stars ad unit for mobile and display, as well as the video ad units when they become available.

The ability to stream free music from an ad isn't new, but the strategy lets brands work with musicians to align with pop culture. It also lets publishers keep readers on the Web site, rather than the brand sending them to iTunes or another landing page.

Once the Jivox ad plays, viewers will receive a free sponsored MP3 download from the Music Interactive library, one of thousands of songs that play on any device. They are neither tethered nor DRM-encoded.

The platform also sorts its vast music library to offer the most popular songs, which will appear at the top, each time the ad loads. The video ad and music reward are both self-contained within the ad unit. Music Interactive holds the relationships and music rights for songs on the list, Shelton said.

When brands associate with one artist, they must secure artist's permission, Shelton said. "But if you're listing a full label catalog, you can offer up the entire list. Still, some artists might want to exclude their name from the list," he said.