New York, NY – According to a new study by VINDICO, the leading online video ad management platform, mid-roll video ads offer advertisers higher performance than pre-roll or post-roll video ads within long-form video environments. VINDICO analyzed millions of video ad impressions within the consumer and packaged goods category delivered by VINDICO over the past 12 months to identify viewing trends and help marketers set benchmarks for advertising success.

VINDICO’s data revealed that mid-roll ad placements in the study worked better than pre- or post-roll ads: 93 percent of mid-roll video ads were viewed in their entirety, compared with only 83 percent completion of post-roll video ads and 85 percent completion of pre-roll video ads. Pre- and post-roll ads are attached to most ad-supported content regardless of length, whereas mid-roll ad placements are typically found only in longer-form online content, such as in the middle of a TV program or movie.

“The industry has grown accustomed to predominantly using pre-roll ads as the main vehicle for delivering brand messages via video,” said Matt Timothy, president of VINDICO. “However, our data shows that online viewers may respond better to mid-roll ads particularly because they are delivered within ‘full meal’ video environments as opposed to ‘snacking’ opportunities, such as a movie trailer or video clip. As a result, mid-roll within episodic content where the viewer is invested in watching the full video event tends to offer higher completion rates. Advertisers should consider giving more emphasis to mid-roll when developing their video media plans.”

The study also revealed that many video ad campaigns that run in long-form environments lack sufficient labeling of pod position, suggesting there is a huge opportunity to further understand online viewing behavior.

“There is a tremendous opportunity for marketers and publishers to better understand not only which pod placements work best, such as pre-roll or post-roll, but also the frequency and timing of such video ad placements within each piece of content,” Timothy added.

Serving almost 40 percent of all online video ads, VINDICO provides advertisers and leading agency groups such GroupM, Havas, IPG, Publicis and Omnicom the easiest way to buy, serve and track all online video ad campaigns with a single video ad management platform. A market leader, VINDICO delivered more than 15.7 billion video ad impressions over the last 12 months, including five billion video ads in Q2 2011, up from 1.8 billion in Q2 2010.

About VINDICO
As the first ad management platform dedicated exclusively to video, VINDICO allows advertisers to buy, serve, track and measure all of their online video ad activity. Since 2006, VINDICO has been the gold standard in online video platforms, providing standardized reporting and analytics for the online video industry. The power of online video isn’t just the audiences it reaches and how it reaches them. Its strength also derives from its ability to track an ad campaign and precisely measure the campaign’s effectiveness. For more information, please visit http://www.vindicogroup.com. For insights into the dynamic landscape of online video advertising, follow VINDICO on Twitter: http://twitter.com/VINDICO_Group.

NEW YORK – “An Inside Look at Demand-Side Perceptions of Digital Video Advertising,” a comprehensive survey examining the views of marketers and agencies, reaffirms that the shift in ad dollar allotment has solidified. The study, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and conducted by Advertiser Perceptions, shows that 69% of marketers and 55% of agencies plan to increase their Digital Video Advertising (DVA), with a 22% growth predicted in the next 12 months. Those surveyed project they will spend 17% of their total online display advertising budget on DVA in the next 12 months. The results of the study were announced at the IAB Digital Video Marketplace where almost 400 industry executives gathered to address the most pressing issues across the digital video platform.

Some of the other key findings of the study include:

- Advertisers are finding that their audiences respond better to DVA, with consumers showing a higher engagement rate with online video.
- DVA is more trackable and targetable and DVA production is less expensive, making it more cost efficient.
- Marketers will migrate TV ad dollars to digital video based on the belief it will deliver better ROI; agencies and television decision makers will shift ad dollars in an attempt to follow their target audiences.
- Among the different available DVA formats (pre-roll, in-banner, expandable banner, mobile video, rich media overlay and post-roll), agencies primarily use pre-roll while marketers are not committed to any specific format. Most respondents believe the appropriate length is 15 seconds.
- The preferred pricing model is CPM.
- A majority of marketers and a majority of agencies believe they should each be responsible for deciding whether to use DVA and how much budget to allocate to it.

There are still several opportunities for increasing the growth of DVA including:

- Improved ROI measurement
- Better standardized metrics
- Demonstrated audience shift to digital

“The study substantiates the buy-side appeal of digital video advertising – the power of sight, sound and motion paired with interactivity,” said Sherrill Mane, SVP Industry Services, IAB. “This bodes exceptionally well for the future revenue growth.”

“There was strong consensus that demand for digital video advertising was strengthening,” according to Randy Cohen, President of Advertiser Perceptions. “It was described best by a senior agency buyer who stated that ‘Digital video is becoming an ever-more common way that our target is consuming what was traditionally broadcast content – and our target is spending more time online, and video is another way to reach and engage the target.’”

All interviews for this study were completed online between November 17- December 6, 2010 in a blind survey. The sample was digital and/or television media decision makers with the intent to spend $1 million or more in the next 12 months. There were 500 respondents total, 148 marketers and 352 agencies, with 44% percent holding higher level titles. Sixty-two percent of respondents were involved in television decision making and 85% were involved in digital decision making.

The summary findings can be found at www.iab.net/digital_video_perceptions.

About the IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

LOS ANGELES – Break Media, the Internet’s premier entertainment community for men, announced the launch of Apex, a new proprietary in-house advertising server for the Break Media Network. Apex enables advertisers to develop and manage highly sophisticated and precisely targeted campaigns across the Break Media Network, which reaches more than 100 million men worldwide every month. Apex will also introduce efficiencies into Break Media’s advertising business by enabling Break to work directly with its clients, and foster greater innovation in the development of new advertising products by allowing Break to develop custom ads, including non-standard formats.

“Advertisers are focusing more and more on innovative, high-impact advertising campaigns that have very targeted reach,” said Keith Richman, CEO, Break Media. “The publishing companies that can deliver this combination to advertisers in a more efficient way are going to have a distinct advantage. That’s exactly why we’re pairing our own, state-of-the-art ad server with one of the biggest entertainment properties on the web.”

Developed completely in-house, the Apex ad server supports all IAB-approved ad formats and will allow advertisers to quickly and easily develop campaigns that combine multiple ad formats (including homepage takeovers, video, and display) with precision targeting capabilities (including geolocation, frequency caps, and consumer intent data). All campaigns will be tracked in a central dashboard that will enable advertisers to measure performance and recalibrate in real time across the Break Media Network, providing them with unprecedented transparency and control.

Break Media has taken a number of steps in recent months to expand and improve its advertising products. The launch of Apex comes on the heels of new partnerships with industry-leading data providers BlueKai and eXelate that provide Break advertisers with consumer-intent targeting data, as well as the launch of new offerings in the company’s Interactive Engagement Suite of products including Videostitial, Page Engage, Video Roll and Interactive Preroll.

“Break Media reaches millions of young men every day and has an unparalleled connection with this key demographic on the web,” said Andrew Budkofsky, EVP of Sales and Partnerships, Break Media. “That reach, combined with the new functionality and control enabled by Apex, will provide our partners with a superior advertising experience.”

The Break Media Network grew 77 percent from August 2009 to January 2010 to become one of the top-10 video ad networks, reaching 100 million unique viewers on a monthly basis (comScore, Feb 2010). The Break network consists of hundreds of premium partner sites and provides an all-encompassing advertiser solution with highly engaging ad units.

About Break Media:

Break Media is one of the largest entertainment properties and providers of content — video, editorial, and games — to men online. The company’s branded properties (Break.com, CagePotato, MadeMan, Chickipedia, HolyTaco, ScreenJunkies, AllLeftTurns, and FileFront), combined with the publisher sites in the Break Media Network, reach more than 100 million men worldwide on a monthly basis. Break Media is currently the 38th-largest web property in the U.S., and it operates the fifth-largest video advertising network in that market. Break Media offers its advertisers a variety of unique marketing opportunities, helping those brands interact with the Break audience on a targeted, integrated basis using innovative ad formats. For more information, please visit http://breakmedia.break.com/.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Adconion Media Group (www.adconion.com), the largest independent global audience and content network, introduced the Joost Video Network, a complete suite of online video advertising products and services. The Joost Video Network will provide agencies and brand marketers with global in-banner and in-stream video advertising capabilities, including pre-, mid- and post-roll video advertisements, with expert targeting and scale.

“As consumers continue to spend more time online – and more time watching video online – agencies and brand marketers have more opportunities to use the power of video advertising to build brand awareness online,” said Nick Higgins, director of global video, Adconion. “With the Joost Video Network, agencies and marketers can design targeted campaigns that run exclusively against premium content on premium sites, and leverage the experience and power of our network to find targeted audiences and maximize the value of their campaigns. Adding this product offering gives Adconion a distinguished position among ad networks, as we are the only provider with in-banner and in-stream capabilities; an exclusive relationship with a branded entertainment studio; in-house creative services; and a video portal, Joost.com, that we own, operate and sell exclusively.”

The Joost Video Network streamlines Adconion’s entire video advertising product line, from pre-, mid- and post-roll video ads to a variety of in-banner video advertising executions, into one product line. All Adconion products, including the Joost Video Network, take advantage of Adconion’s proprietary ad serving and targeting technology. In addition, the Joost Video Network delivers both pre-roll and in-stream campaigns targeted with BlueKai data, thanks to a unique global partnership with the world’s highest-quality online data exchange. The Joost Video Network is DoubleVerified and IASH compliant, ensuring all video ads run in brand-safe environments.

The product launch marks an important step in Adconion’s evolution, as it is the first product and service from the combined entity formed when Adconion acquired Joost’s technology assets in November 2009. Since the acquisition, Adconion has integrated its ad server with the Joost video player and is the exclusive video ad provider for Joost.com and the Joost video player in its embedded form.

In addition to global pre-roll and in-banner video capabilities through the Joost Video Network, Adconion has an exclusive relationship with the branded entertainment and creative services studio RedLever. Together, Adconion and RedLever work with agencies and marketers to develop compelling video content, from advertisements to webisodes.

The Joost Video Network will serve video ads on Adconion’s network of 2,000 premium publishers in more than 70 markets worldwide. In addition to Adconion’s extensive sales, account management and media teams, participating advertisers and marketers also have access to Adconion’s regional video specialists. The team, led by Nick Higgins, includes Cliff Paulson in North America and Stephen Hunt in Australia. Paulson has more than 15 years of media experience, most recently at ScanScout, while Hunt has more than five years of experience in online advertising, marketing and video. Adconion, which has aggressive plans to grow by nearly 50 percent in 2010, will add a European video specialist to its team this month.

About Adconion

Adconion Media Group (www.adconion.com) is the largest independent global audience and content network, reaching more than 350 million unique users – or one-third of the total global Internet population – every month. Combining the power of global reach with local presence, Adconion helps advertisers reach customers throughout the marketing funnel with its breadth of products, from video and display advertising to search retargeting. Adconion is dedicated to providing advertisers and publishers with the best products, technology and data analysis to create successful online campaigns. Adconion has 16 offices in 7 countries, sits on the board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and is a member of IASH Europe. For more information, visit http://www.adconion.com.

ACTON, Mass. & LONDON – SeaChange International (NASDAQ: SEAC) announced it has begun rollout of its dynamic VOD advertising technology for Virgin Media, the UK’s leading on-demand cable television operator. SeaChange AdPulse On Demand software is being deployed over the national SeaChange Axiom on Demand footprint serving 3.7 million digital cable homes, beginning with 300,000 homes from this month.

Thirty second pre-roll and post-roll ads from leading brands including L’Oreal, Sony Ericsson, Kellogg’s and Microsoft will appear around on-demand content from LIVING, Virgin1 and Bravo. Program and ad matching decisions will occur dynamically, enabling on-the-fly placements into individual VOD streams: hair care ads shown before Britain’s Next Top Model, or a supermarket campaign after Restaurant in our Living Room for example.

SeaChange’s London-based content management subsidiary On Demand Group is aggregating programming for the service and providing ingest, publishing, Q/A and scheduling services. With its business management, marketing and content management capabilities, On Demand Group was pivotal in helping Virgin Media to establish an on-demand segment that today brings in over 66 million views monthly.

“On-demand’s attraction set in and gained audiences long ago. Now we’ll begin to see highly relevant, value added advertising play its vital role in expanding content quality and volume, as well as bringing in new revenue streams,” said Simon McGrath, Chief Marketing Officer, SeaChange.

Virgin Media concluded a trial earlier this year with SeaChange and On Demand Group, revealing a positive viewer reaction to on-demand advertising. Over half, 54%, of Virgin Media’s triallists were positive about advertising when watching on-demand content from commercial providers. 65% preferred to see ads beforehand, with ads lasting 30 seconds the most popular format. Respondents also favored ads relevant to the program being watched.

Cindy Rose, executive director of TV at Virgin Media, said: “With over 66 million views of on-demand content each month, there is a clear opportunity for on-demand television to deliver relevant and effective ads to a growing audience. We saw a positive viewer response when we trialed dynamic advertising earlier this year and our customers welcomed campaigns that worked within the context of the program they’d chosen to watch.”

AdPulse at Work

Virgin Media’s rollout takes advantage of its SeaChange Axiom On Demand open content delivery platform, working in conjunction with SeaChange AdPulse On Demand software. Prior to the first deployments of SeaChange AdPulse in 2006, on-demand television advertising was limited to stitching ads directly into program assets for their entire run, ultimately requiring advertisers to submit ads that ran for at least several weeks.

AdPulse breaks new ground and delivers revenues with on-the-fly, real time insertion of pre- and post-roll ads into on-demand program streams, including on-demand video games and DVDs. Making ads independent of the shows in which they run allows each to be trafficked separately, at long last reducing lead times for ad copy and enabling ad rotation, targeting and message refresh throughout a campaign. AdPulse further elevates targeting capabilities through insertion of ads into internal program breaks within on-demand streams.

About Virgin Media

With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK’s first quad-play provider of broadband, TV, phone and mobile.

The company is one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK, using a unique fibre optic cable network to deliver next generation ultrafast internet access of up to 50Mb to just over half of all homes. Combined with a high speed ADSL service and mobile broadband products, Virgin Media is able to offer broadband internet access to virtually the entire country.

Virgin Media has the UK’s most advanced TV on demand service and is the only TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer. It is the second largest provider of pay TV, was the first to launch a high definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder.

The company operates the most popular virtual mobile network in the UK which, when launched, was the world’s first such mobile phone service. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country.

Virgin Media also owns Virgin Media Television (VMtv) which runs seven entertainment channels, including Virgin1, LIVING, Bravo and Challenge. VMtv is a 50 per cent joint partner with BBC Worldwide in UKTV, which consists of ten channels including Dave, G.O.L.D., Watch and Alibi.

Virgin Media Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market and the London Stock Exchange (VMED). For more information, go to www.virginmedia.com.

SeaChange Serves Europe

SeaChange International is a leading provider of software applications, services and integrated solutions for video-on-demand (VOD), digital advertising, and content acquisition monetization and management. Its powerful open VOD and advertising software and scaleable hardware enable cable and telco operators, as well as broadcasters, to provide new on-demand services and to gain greater efficiencies in advertising and content delivery. With its Emmy Award-winning and patented technology, thousands of SeaChange deployments are helping broadband, broadcast and satellite television companies to streamline operations, expand services and increase revenues. Headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts, SeaChange has product development, support and sales facilities in the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere around Europe and the world. SeaChange companies in Europe include On Demand Group and digital television software provider eventIS. Visit www.schange.com.

Based in London and serving cable, telco and mobile operators globally, On Demand Group uniquely combines its unparalleled stable of studio relationships and extensive regional content rights portfolio with comprehensive retail marketing and business development capabilities to create some of the world’s largest and most successful video-on-demand services. The Company specializes in content lifecycle management, from acquisition through full monetization, today enabling the highest quality video-on-demand services across millions of TVs, phones and broadband connections. Visit www.ondemand.co.uk.

LOS ANGELES – Panache, the full solution for video ad sales, facilitation and reporting, announced the general availability of Panache Ad IQ™, real-time video ad effectiveness reporting for major online video publishers. Panache Ad IQ gives publishers a competitive edge by allowing them to command higher-value advertising through insightful data and analysis of ad creative, experience and performance.

“As more television programming is delivered via broadband, content publishers need advanced yet simplified ad effectiveness reporting solutions to increase ad sales and drive their online video publishing efforts to profitability,” said Steve Robinson, Panache’s president. “Panache Ad IQ’s robust reporting functionality coupled with our work flow facilitation as well as products and tools for a publisher’s direct sales efforts all provide a complete, end-to-end monetization solution for major publishers.”

Through intelligent, visually stunning and easy-to-understand analysis and reporting, Panache Ad IQ gives publishers deep insight into the rich, in-depth sets of data that the Panache platform collects. Panache Ad IQ captures all video player interaction, ad exposure, ad comparison and ad interaction data and correlates this information into easy-to-understand at-a-glance analysis. Publishers can deliver more meaningful reports beyond GRP in real time, knowing what ad experiences and creative works. This reporting allows publishers and their advertisers to improve the overall ad experience to better reach their target audiences.

“In today’s environment, with pressure to justify every dollar spent, ad effectiveness reporting is not simply a value-add for major programmers and media companies, but a requirement to build a profitable and sustainable video publishing business on the Web,” added Robinson.

According to the July 2009 data from comScore’s Video Metrix service, 158 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month, the largest audience ever recorded. Online video reached another all-time high in July with a total of 21.4 billion videos viewed during the month, firmly establishing digital video as a relevant and viable channel for advertising revenue.

About Panache

Panache helps major media and entertainment companies increase revenues with advertising as they build Internet-distributed video into a profitable and sustainable business.

Panache’s ad-insertion platform, products and professional services support all areas of a video publisher’s inside ad sales: custom campaigns as well as standard ads, workflow facilitation and precise, visually based real-time ad efficacy reporting for publishers, their agencies and advertisers.

Founded in 2006, Panache is a privately held company headquartered in Los Angeles.

San Mateo, California – Jivox, the leading online video advertising and marketing platform for local businesses and publishers, today announced significant enhancements to its online video ad creation, management, and optimization platform to give online publishers a more cost-effective way to service even the smallest advertisers.

With the latest version of the Jivox platform, online publishers can now offer all of their advertisers the opportunity to run video ads within a video content player, before, during or after streamed video content (pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll).  Jivox “Plug-n-Play” technology enables any Adobe Flash-based video content player to serve in-stream video ads and take advantage of the powerful interactivity features and reporting features available in the current Jivox video ad player.

The new platform release also introduces significant reporting enhancements, including aggregated reporting across video, display and text ads.  By integrating with third-party banner and text ad creation tools, Jivox can now provide publishers and advertisers with a single, dashboard-style view of all their ads’ performance on the publisher’s site.

The company has also added “view-through” tracking and reporting to the mix – this helps advertisers better assess their true ad performance by attributing a customer visit or conversion to a customer having seen an ad.  With the combination of traditional click-through metrics, video engagement metrics exclusive to Jivox, and the new view-through reporting capabilities now available to publishers, Jivox provides the most robust and comprehensive video ad analytics available today.

Online publishers can access all of these new features via the Jivox Publisher Portal, an online service for Jivox’s white label publisher partners. The Jivox Publisher Portal enables publishers’ sales and ad operations teams to access and manage their advertiser accounts, enter insertion orders, set campaign pricing, track campaigns, and traffic video ads all from a central console. Extensive analytics enable publishers to track real-time critical metrics related to ad performance and ad inventory, and report back to their advertisers.

“Delivering video ads within video content has in the past involved very complex integration between advertising service providers and the publisher’s video player,” said Diaz Nesamoney, CEO of Jivox. “The new version of the Jivox platform helps publishers reduce the complexity by enabling the wide variety of video content players in the market to easily integrate with the Jivox Video Ad platform, while offering easy provisioning and serving of video ads within video content.”

About Jivox
Jivox makes it easy for businesses to reach local customers with online video marketing.  The Jivox online video platform enables businesses to easily create high-impact videos at no cost and use them in local online ad campaigns, on web sites and directory listings, in viral marketing programs, email campaigns and more.  Jivox provides targeted distribution of video ads through a premium network of over 800 local media and content websites, ensuring that every ad reaches the intended audience. The Jivox platform is also being used by national and local media groups to streamline online video ad creation and to offer self-service ad creation and distribution directly to their advertisers.  Jivox is a privately held company headquartered in San Mateo, Calif. For more information about Jivox, please visit www.jivox.com.

London, June 4th, 2009 – VIDEOPLAZA, announces its first UK clients for its ‘built for video’ ad server platform – Monetizer. Factory Media and Incisive Media will both launch online video advertising services, through Videoplaza, to capitalise on the growing popularity of online video.

Videoplaza, a privately owned company, based in Stockholm and London, enables clients to manage, present and track online video advertising. It has developed an ad server platform that can increase revenues and demonstrate media value, from advertising placed in and around their online video content. Working with leading broadcasters, news media, business and consumer publishers in five countries, Videoplaza’s ad server technology, creative ad formats and real-time reporting enables clients to monetise the time users spend watching online video, rather than started streams.

Factory Media’s extreme sports video channel Mpora www.mpora.com will offer advertisers and sponsors access to its valuable audiences using Interactive Pre, Mid and Post Roll advertising. The channel will also use In-stream overlays, served within the video content, a format proving popular with advertisers and users alike and also Companion Ads synchronised with a client’s video ads.

Incisive Media, www.incisivemedia.com, a leading business information provider, is implementing Videoplaza’s ad server to offer exciting new opportunities for brands and B2B advertisers to target its high value audiences, starting with the IT professional community VNUnet  www.vnunet.com

By adopting Videoplaza’s ad server platform both companies will be able to more effectively manage their online video advertising inventory, optimize client campaigns and demonstrate improved advertiser ROI, in terms of advertising exposure and engagement. The deals will also introduce the next generation interactive preroll format to the market called the iRoll.

John Barnes, Managing Director – Digital Strategy and Development UK & Asia for Incisive Media stated “We see a great opportunity in video and want to be equipped with the best monetisation tool in the market. We have chosen to work with Videoplaza not just because of their technology, this company understands this space and has made it work in other markets.”

According to Darryl Newton, Managing Director, Factory Media, “Mpora.com is now a significant part of our business, with over 2 million video streams served each month. Demand for advertising on our platform is growing incrementally and clients are particularly excited by creative video solutions. Working with Videoplaza we feel we can meet the needs of these customers better by offering more dynamic and engaging formats combined with video specific reporting such as engagement rates and time spent with the ads.

Sorosh Tavakoli, Founder and CEO for Videoplaza added “We are delighted to announce agreements with these two great innovative publishers. We are doing everything we can to repeat the success from the Swedish market where more and more publishers have profitable online video products.”

Videoplaza has been in the UK since January 2009 and is building a local team to advise and support both local media owners and international networks based in London.

For further information contact:

Sorosh Tavakoli, Founder and CEO Videoplaza
+44 7530 885 492
sorosh@videoplaza.com

John Barnes, Managing Director – Digital Strategy and Development UK & Asia, Incisive Media
+44 (0)20 7316 9007
john.barnes@incisivemedia.com

Darryl Newton, Managing Director, Factory Media
+44 (0)20 7332 9700
darryl.newton@factorymedia.com

About Videoplaza

Videoplaza AB is based in London and Stockholm, privately owned and backed by venture capital company Creandum. The company is working with leading broadcasters, newspaper publishers and other premium media owners in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the UK. It has developed an ad server that is uniquely designed to meet the challenges of monetising online video content. The technology is compatible with any video platform, offers rich video specific reporting and maximises the clients potential advertising inventory. The ad formats offered are all compliant with the new IAB UK Video Guide launched April 29th, 2009.

Videoplaza website: http://www.videoplaza.com
Videoplaza blog: http://www.videoplaza.com/blog
Videoplaza client list: http://www.videoplaza.com/customers

The value of online video advertising is forecast to increase, in line with its growing popularity with users. eMarketer estimates the market will be worth $1.9Bn by 2011 and to account for 10% of all online advertising spend.

The technology challenge for many publishers is to make their traditional display ad server work seamlessly with their video platform. Too often, their existing technology is not able to deliver the potential volume of ads given the length of time users are spending watching video. Videoplaza’s ‘built for video’ ad server lets publishers place and then track the effectiveness of their clients advertising, while allowing more campaigns to be served while not being too intrusive to the users. The company can demonstrate how this has more than doubled client revenues.

NEW YORK – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced the release for public comment of Video Player-Ad Interface Definitions Guidelines (VPAID). The announcement represents another important step in the IAB’s infrastructure initiative that seeks to build a common language for buying, selling, creating and delivering digital video advertising.

The series of definitions in the VPAID Guidelines help the interactive industry:

* Define a standard method for video ads to communicate with video players and enable ad compatibility across all VPAID-compliant players
* Provide specifications that can be implemented by any type of video player
* Cut production costs and improve ROI for advertisers while enabling a less intrusive experience for video content viewers.

Until now, video ads could only be posted on publisher sites that supported the same technology as an agency did when creating the ads. With VPAID, publishers adhering to these standards will be able to render any type of video advertisement from any video ad serving technology that also adheres to the standards. Likewise, advertisers that adopt the standards can be assured that the ads they create are usable by any ad serving technology and publisher.

Over the past year, the IAB has taken a lead role in the industry-wide effort to create a common structure across distinct areas of digital video. In addition to VPAID, the IAB’s efforts have included the release of the following documents as part of this initiative:

* Digital Video Measurement Guidelines
* Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Best Practices
* Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)
* Digital Video In-Stream Ad Metrics Definitions

All of these documents can be reviewed at: http://www.iab.net/iab_products_and_industry_services/508676/508950

“Interactive advertising is a bright spot in the current advertising environment, and digital video is one of its most promising formats,” said Jeremy Fain, Vice President of Industry Services at IAB. “VPAID is the final piece of the current Digital Video Infrastructure Initiative. All five parts of the initiative help define the digital video ecosystem, reduce costs and increase efficiency for all parties and, most importantly, make it possible for advertisers to more easily reach larger online audiences.”

“Advertisers and agencies today require more interactive formats that go beyond linear TV ad spots, demand more control over how they experience ads, and want the ability to learn more about particular subjects of interest,” said David Ku, SVP of the Advertising Technology Group at Yahoo!, a member company of the IAB’s Digital Video Committee. “VPAID provides a common standard for how video ads will interact with players and serves as an important step forward to deliver on the promise of digital video ad formats.”

Members of the industry (advertising agencies, advertisers, online publishers and technology vendors) are encouraged to read the proposed guidelines and submit comments on the IAB site at: http://www.iab.net/vpaid. After the comment period closes on March 5, 2009 the feedback will be reviewed and the guidelines will be finalized and released.

About the IAB’s Digital Video Committee:

The Digital Video Committee of the IAB is comprised of over 180 member companies actively engaged in the creation and execution of digital video advertising. One of the goals of the committee is to implement a comprehensive set of guidelines, measurement, and creative options for interactive video advertising. The committee works to educate marketers and agencies on the strength of digital video as a marketing vehicle. A full list of Committee member companies can be found at: http://www.iab.net/digital_video_committee

About the IAB:

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 375 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released November 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that U.S. Internet users viewed 12.7 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 34 percent versus year ago.

Hulu Retains #6 Ranking

In November, Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property with nearly 5.1 billion videos viewed (representing a 40 percent share of all videos viewed), with YouTube.com accounting for more than 98 percent of all videos viewed at the property. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 439 million videos (3.5 percent), followed by Viacom Digital with 325 million (2.6 percent) and Yahoo! Sites with 304 million (2.4 percent). On the heels of a surge in viewership in October, Hulu retained its #6 position with 227 million videos viewed (1.8 percent).
______________________________________________________________________

Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Videos Viewed

November 2008

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore Video Metrix
Property                    Videos        Share (%) of

                             (000)           Videos

Total Internet            12,677,063         100.0

Google Sites               5,107,302          40.3

Fox Interactive Media        439,091           3.5

Viacom Digital               324,903           2.6

Yahoo! Sites                 304,331           2.4

Microsoft Sites              296,285           2.3

Hulu                         226,540           1.8

Turner Network               214,709           1.7

Disney Online                137,165           1.1

AOL LLC                      115,306           0.9

ESPN                          95,622           0.8
______________________________________________________________________
*Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks.  Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video.

Google Sites Draws 98 Million Video Viewers in November

More than 146 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 87 videos per viewer in November. Google Sites attracted 98 million online video viewers, or approximately two out of every three Internet users who watched video during the month. Fox Interactive ranked second with 58.1 million viewers, followed by Yahoo! Sites (40 million) and Microsoft Sites (35 million).

______________________________________________________________________
Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Unique Viewers

November 2008

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore Video Metrix
Property                         Unique Viewers       Average Videos
                                     (000)              per Viewer

Total Internet                      146,064                86.8

Google Sites                         97,928                52.2

Fox Interactive Media                58,115                 7.6

Yahoo! Sites                         39,956                 7.6

Microsoft Sites                      34,979                 8.5

Viacom Digital                       27,109                12.0

Hulu                                 22,456                10.1

AOL LLC                              22,442                 5.1

Turner Network                       20,735                10.4

Disney Online                        13,028                10.5

Time Warner – Excl. AOL              12,564                 3.6
______________________________________________________________________

*Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks.  Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video.

Other notable findings from November 2008 include:
77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
The average online video viewer watched 273 minutes of video.
97 million viewers watched 5.1 billion videos on YouTube.com (52.3 videos per viewer).
52.5 million viewers watched 371 million videos on MySpace.com (7.1 videos per viewer).
The duration of the average online video was 3.1 minutes.
The duration of the average online video viewed at Hulu was 11.9 minutes, higher than any other video property in the top ten.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

LOS ANGELES – Panache, the ad-insertion platform for major media and entertainment companies, announced that its Media Maps have resulted in nearly one billion online video ads to date. The figure reflects more than an 850 percent increase from 2007, and underscores significant usage from major media and entertainment companies looking to drive ad-driven in-stream revenue. Panache expects its ASP platform, which enables unlimited video ad avails and performance of ad insertions with its patent-pending Media Map technology™, to process its billionth ad in January, 2009.

Panache is now working with more than 15 major publishers to productize their business, dynamically create ad avails, and provide in-stream ad insertion into a wide array of premium video content. Media and entertainment companies with multi-channel in-house ad sales need straightforward solutions that promote profitability from their online video operations. Panache’s open platform provides major networks the infrastructure to create unlimited ad avails, support both live and on-demand video ad insertion, report on video and advertising and drive greater efficiencies for ad operations, ad sales and technology groups.

“Networks and major publishers are struggling with how to drive efficiencies across key areas including ad products, player engineering and ad operations,” said Steve Robinson, president of Panache. “As the online video advertising industry continues to mature, publishers are increasingly looking for ways to productize operations, streamline their efforts and gain better control. Major networks need an ad insertion and reporting solution that provides a comprehensive infrastructure without affecting existing workflows. They also seek quick and sustainable profits for all their video—short form, long form, on-demand and live streams.”

Despite the economic downturn, online video advertising spend is projected to reach close to $1 billion in 2009, as more traditional media companies distribute professional-quality content online (eMarketer). According to Comscore, 77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed an online video in October, with the projected number of online video advertising viewers expected to reach 174.8 million in 2012 (eMarketer).

In addition to publisher success, Panache has also grown its ecosystem of partners this year. More than a dozen major partnership deals were forged in 2008, including a joint venture with Adobe to insert in-video ads into the Adobe Media Player (AMP). Panache also expanded its reach into rich media by joining with interactive in-video advertising leader PointRoll. Other major relationships include Microsoft, thePlatform and Adify.

The Panache platform reduces the cost and complexity of ad insertion and awards media and entertainment companies total control of ads in any syndication or distribution. As networks move more content online, options expand to make full use of programming. Panache’s agnostic approach gives publishers highly flexible ad product choices and immediate opportunity to monetize video content.

Panache’s proprietary Media Mapping technology orchestrates ad insertion into any number or combination of avails. Dynamic and easily changeable, this technology ensures that every ad insertion, including the video’s entire ad experience, occurs exactly as planned.

For more information, please visit: www.panachetech.com.

About Panache

Panache is an ad insertion platform providing media and entertainment companies with the infrastructure to increase revenue from their video business. Publishers can create more ad avails for long-form, short-form, HD, on-demand streams and live events – all with the same toolset and no interruption to existing workflows. With Panache, publishers have complete control over their in-video advertising regardless of distribution model, enabling syndication and precise reporting that follows their campaigns anywhere.

Founded in 2006, Panache is a privately held company headquartered in Los Angeles.

SAN BRUNO, CA–(Marketwire – November 17, 2008) – Adify, the premier vertical ad network management company, today announced enhanced video ad serving functionality with the release of version 3.3 of the Adify platform. Adify Video enables online publishers to implement and monetize video for their contextual portfolio of sites. Adify network operators can now syndicate and generate revenue from video content and easily build an open video ad network for partner sites — expanding the reach of their video while controlling distribution to only quality sites. Network builders and publishers can integrate any video player with the Adify Video platform and reliably deliver pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll and overlay ads within syndicated videos.

According to eMarketer, $505 million will be spent on online video advertising this year. It is an effective revenue driver for publishers because it has higher CPMs, higher click-through rates and longer engagement than traditional online advertising. Furthermore, marketers who buy on Adify-powered networks benefit from quality premium content that video ads are sold against. The Adify Video platform includes measurement capabilities for publishers and advertisers to evaluate the effectiveness of video. Network operators launching with Adify Video include:

– Break Media (http://breakmedia.break.com), the premier online destination for the young male audience, is integrating Adify Video as a component of its own video player, which enables marketers and content owners to showcase and syndicate professional and relevant video content. Break is offering pre-roll and overlay ad units that are trafficked by Adify, which prioritizes ad delivery based on many variables, including CPM, impression goals, and importance. Within two months, Break Media has served more than seven million video ads from a variety of marketers.

– DriverTV (www.drivertv.com), a leading producer and distributor of professionally produced, high-definition, automobile-related video content for consumers, created a new online content and advertising network using Adify Video. The driverTV network gives auto manufacturer advertisers the ability to pair targeted overlay and display advertising with specific video content. Charter advertisers include BMW, GM and Subaru.

“Video offers premier independent publishers increased revenues and audience interest. There is plenty of potential in creativity and effectiveness for both buyer and seller. Prior to Adify Video, standardization was a major roadblock that made it very difficult to integrate the various video players with the various ad serving technologies and video ad feeds,” said Russ Fradin, president of Adify. “Adify Video alleviates this challenge for publishers through our open platform. Additionally, any type of rich media marketing specialist can enhance the targeting and delivery capabilities for the networks on our platform, thereby maximizing their share of the online video ad spend.”

Adify Video is part of the key network management services and ad technology created by Adify for publishers to execute successful distributed advertising campaigns. Adify’s syndicated ad server, tracking, reporting, billing, payment and technical support functions are relied upon by over 140 networks and more than 6,000 independent publishers. This open infrastructure delivers content sponsorships, video, image and rich media advertising to the unique specifications of each network builder. Working with Adify Video, network operators can now ramp up video offerings within days.

“Video content and video advertising have long been key components of our wholly-owned websites. By integrating our video player and content management system with Adify’s ad serving platform, we are now able to deliver video content and ads to the 90+ third-party sites that comprise the Break Media Network. This means that our advertisers can now engage with their core male audience via the Break Media Network using the full power of streaming media and the publishers who are part of our network now have yet another way to monetize their Web properties,” said Huan Le, Vice President of Business Development at Break Media.

About Adify
Adify Corporation is the premier vertical ad network management company and an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Cox TMI Inc., part of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, one of the nation’s leading media companies and providers of automotive services.

SAN MATEO, Calif. – BlackArrow, the independent provider of multiplatform ad-management systems for viewer-controlled video, has released a Connector (software development kit) that integrates its ad-management system with Akamai’s Media Framework, a valuable resource for the rapid development of video player applications. This integration allows broadband video providers to ad-enable video content distributed using Akamai’s Media Framework. BlackArrow is also participating in the Open Video Player initiative, a community site intended to facilitate the development and sharing of open standards and best practices for video player applications that support a wide range of advertising technologies.

By integrating Akamai’s Media Framework with BlackArrow, premium content owners and publishers can adopt turnkey video player solutions to better maximize the return from their digital video content. This reduces the complexity of developing ad-supported video players, speeds deployments and stimulates new advertising revenue opportunities.

“It’s critical that we make it easier to integrate and deploy advertising solutions, given the escalating demand to monetize video content. BlackArrow’s support for the Akamai Media Framework and participation in the Open Video Player initiative addresses this demand,” said Tim Napoleon, chief strategist for digital media, Akamai. “Together, we can enable content providers to more easily develop and deliver ad-supported broadband video content.”

BlackArrow’s multiplatform ad-management system enables video content providers and distributors to optimize and enhance their ad-supported video programming and ad-sales opportunities. Using the BlackArrow system, they can now offer their advertisers new ad types, sponsorship packages and campaigns that combine ad units in unique ways to boost brand and product awareness — generating added value for content providers and advertisers alike.

“The BlackArrow and Akamai systems work together to provide an optimal platform from which to monetize premium content, and reflects BlackArrow’s support for open standards,” said Chris Hock, senior vice president, product management, BlackArrow. “We’ve built an extensive network of broadband ecosystem partners, and our integration with Akamai furthers our goals of reducing the complexity of integrating multiple systems, while ensuring seamless deployments of the BlackArrow ad-management system.”

Built from the ground up for video, the BlackArrow system helps content providers and distributors solve the challenges created by today’s fragmented audiences who increasingly view video programming distributed over broadband, video on demand and other platforms outside of linear television.

The BlackArrow system dynamically contracts, targets, traffics and reports on advertising inventory to maximize revenues from ad-supported video programming. Because the BlackArrow system works across any combination of ad types, ad-sales models, distribution or syndication strategies, BlackArrow’s clients can more effectively generate new revenue streams from ad-supported video, while preserving critical relationships with their advertisers.

The BlackArrow Connector for the Open Video Player Initiative is available now, at www.openvideoplayer.com, in the Connectors tab within the Download folder.

About BlackArrow, Inc.

BlackArrow is the independent provider of multiplatform ad management for viewer-controlled video. The company’s ad-management system is designed specifically for video content distributed over any on-demand platform — enabling content providers and distributors to maximize advertising revenues, and improving advertisers’ ability to reach target audiences. BlackArrow is led by an experienced team of executives from the advertising, television and digital media industries, and is backed by Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Comcast Interactive Capital, Intel Capital (NASDAQ: INTC), Mayfield Fund and Polaris Venture Partners. The company is privately held, with offices in New York City and San Mateo, Calif. http://www.blackarrow.tv

BlackArrow is a trademark of BlackArrow, Inc.

NEW YORK – KickApps (www.kickapps.com), the industry’s leading on-demand social media, video player and widget platform, today announced that it has made it extremely easy for web publishers to add video advertising into their editorial and user-generated videos using the KickApps Widget & Video Player Studio. With drag-and-drop ease, it is now possible to add translucent overlay, interstititial, pre- and post-roll video, and other new video advertising formats to all KickApps powered video players. As part of this new feature, KickApps supports out-of-the-box integration from Google AdSense for Video, Scanscout, Adap.tv, and 24/7 Real Media. Support for DoubleClick’s DART and others will follow shortly.

Online video has emerged as one of the most engaging applications on the web today and advertising budgets are following suit. Recent research conducted by Bain & Company in coordination with the Interactive Advertising Bureau finds that video advertising is garnering an average CPM of $43, with demand for video inventory outstripping supply.

KickApps customers that have bought out the advertising inventory from their KickApps powered social media and video websites will be able to access these new advertising features. Integrating video ads is a simple three-step process:

1) Create a custom video player using the KickApps Widgets and Video Player Studio

2) Select from a list of modules of ad networks or pre- and post-roll

3) Provide the ad network’s publisher ID number or the URL of a Flash video file

“As social media and online video become a greater part of every web publisher’s website, technical and business complexity should be replaced with efficiency and a easy path to revenue generation,” said Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps. “We’ve applied this principle throughout the KickApps Platform, making it incredibly easy to create compelling social media and video experiences, and now making it easier than ever for web publishers to monetize video on their websites. With the enhancements we’ve made over the last few months to the Platform and the KickApps Widget & Video Player Studio, every web publisher and designer is just a few clicks away from being a social media rockstar.”

About KickApps

KickApps provides on-demand social media, online video and widget applications that enable web publishers and marketers to grow, engage and monetize online audiences. Its SaaS platform includes social networking, user-generated content, programmable video players, drag-and-drop widget building, WidgeADs™ and other applications that are tightly integrated with robust media moderation, member management and reporting. The KickApps Platform seamlessly integrates with any website using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, feeds, Widgets and APIs (REST and SOAP). Customers include: SOAPnet, CW Television, Guinness World Records, Scripps Network Interactive, HBO, Cinemax, Cox Television, the Phoenix Suns, the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and thousands of other sites. For more information, visit www.kickapps.com and www.kickdeveloper.com.

Santa Monica, Calif. – September 30, 2008 – Adconion Media Group, (www.adconion.com) the independent global advertising network, today announced the launch of its new video content syndication offering, AMG-TV which allows creators and studios access to Adconion’s massive global network of publisher sites, advertiser and agency partners to broadly distribute and effectively monetize their premium Web video content.

Adconion’s launch of AMG-TV signals its innovative evolution from the traditional ad network model pairing advertisers with publisher sites, to a truly global distribution platform designed to monetize all types of audience-targeted, multimedia content. For Adconion’s ad agency partners, AMG-TV provides a scalable branded video solution paired with highquality original content and the ability to optimize campaigns across video, display and email. In addition, Adconion will provide advertisers and brands with a range of data on the performance of their campaigns and how new and existing customers are interacting with their messages.

Vuguru (www.vuguru.com), the Emmy®-nominated new media studio backed by Michael Eisner’s The Tornante Company, is the first production studio using Adconion’s AMG-TV to syndicate its new show Back on Topps beginning today. Back on Topps, a hilarious, behind-the-scenes journey into one of the world’s most recognizable sports companies, will premiere new episodes twice weekly online.

“AMG-TV is a boon to both creators and agencies and brings Adconion closer to fulfilling our vision of becoming the largest IPTV network by 2010,” said Tyler Moebius, Founder and CEO, Adconion. “We are breaking the stranglehold that YouTube and other video platforms have had on professional video creators and giving them broader, global distribution and a sales force dedicated to pairing their content with brand advertisers for greater monetization opportunities. We are essentially meeting Web video’s two greatest challenges to date: audience and monetization.”

“The partnership with Adconion’s AMG-TV will provide an optimal platform for Back on Topps to achieve an instant global footprint through Adconion’s network of publishers,” said Michael Eisner, The Tornante Company. “As Vuguru continues to create high-quality professionally-produced content for the Internet, it becomes vital to develop measurement platforms and distribution models that will help move the space forward.”

“AMG-TV offers agencies a one-stop solution that unites hard-to-find quality content with massive distribution for instantly scalable video campaigns,” said Keith Kaplan, President of North America, Adconion. “We understand that many of our agency partners – both digital and traditional – are not interested in sponsoring user-generated content, and we will continue to add premium branded video content that will be syndicated across our worldwide network of publishers.”

Adconion’s network reaches over 240 million unique users, or nearly one-third of the global Internet population, according to comScore.

About Adconion
Adconion Media Group is the only independent global advertising network. The company completed a record $80 million Series C round of funding led by Index Ventures in February 2008. Since its founding in 2005 Adconion has focused on the realization of performance-driven branding campaigns that deliver massive global reach. Adconion’s clients consist of advertising agencies and direct advertisers as well as its partner base of premium websites from a wide range of sectors. Adconion combines its in-house technology and high touch client service with quality media to exceed its partners’ campaign objectives. The company has offices around the world in London, Munich, Hamburg, Paris, Madrid, Melbourne, Sydney, New York, Toronto, Santa Monica, San Diego, Chicago and Detroit. Adconion is a member of the International Advertising Bureau (IAB) and a founding member of IASH Europe. Visit Adconion at www.adconion.com.

Standard, Flash or Rich Media Banner
Agency: A&E Television / Client: Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels
Agency: IAC Advertising Solutions / Client: Bacardi
Agency: MS3 Marketing / Client: Castrol SYNTEC

Standard, Flash or Rich Media Expandable Banner or Overpage Unit
Agency: Juxt Interactive / Client: Coca-Cola Co./Coke Zero
Agency: Liquid / Client: Paramount/The Spiderwick Chronicles
Agency: Unicast / Client: Warner Brothers/Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Homepage Takeover/Sponsorship
Agency: AvatarLabs / Client: Sony Pictures/Pineapple Express
Agency: AvatarLabs / Client: Walt Disney Pictures/Wall-E
Agency: The Visionaire Group / Client: Universal Pictures/Wanted

Content Integration
Agency: Digitas / Client: American Express OPEN
Agency: Monster Worldwide Inc. / Client: PBS/Military.com
Agency: Sojern / Client: Delta Air Lines/E-Ticket

Standalone E-mail
Agency: Digitas / Client: American Express and DailyCandy, “Local Deals”
Agency: Merkle Inc. / Client: Corporate Express
Agency: Yesmail / Client: HP

E-mail Campaign
Agency: Moxie Interactive / Client: Verizon Wireless
Agency: Smith-Harmon Inc. / Client: REI
Agency: Tribal DDB / Client: Pepsi-Cola North America, “Pepsi Stuff Insider”

Search Campaign
Agency: 90octane / Client: Globus Family of Brands
Agency: Bigmouthmedia / Client: Hilton Hotels
Agency: Stinson Partners / Client: Costa Cruise Lines

Video Appearing in a Banner, Pre-Roll, Interstitial or In-Stream Unit
Agency: A&E Television / Client: A&E Television
Agency: TM Advertising/Janimation/EyeWonder – Client: Superpages.com
Agency: VML / Client: Dr Pepper

Standalone Video (Not Principally Deployed on YouTube)
Agency: AKQA / Client: AOL News, “Where Are They Now?”
Agency: Enlighten / Client: Bioré, “Let’s Face It”
Agency: Vibrant Media / Client: Unilever, “Blondes vs. Brunettes”

YouTube Video Ad
Agency: Element79 / Client: Gatorade, “Ball Girl”
Agency: Intuit / Client: TurboTax, “Ping Pong and Taxes Made Easy”
Agency: KulaVortex.com / Client: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, “28 Seconds Later”

Rich Media Campaign
Agency: A&E Television / Client: Paranormal State
Agency: Avenue A | Razorfish/Euro RSCG Worldwide / Client: Nabisco/Ritz, “Open for Fun”
Agency: PointRoll/Armchair Media/Turf / Client: College Board

Contest/Promotion/Sweepstakes
Agency: Dailey / Client: Intuit/TurboTax, “Tax Rap”
Agency: Exopolis/MMA Creative Group / Client: Roxy and Schick Quattro, “Follow Your Heart”
Agency: Liquid Advertising / Client: After Dark Films, “Miss Horrorfest”

Campaign in Social Media
Agency: Avenue A | Razorfish / Client: Washington Mutual
Agency: McCann Erickson / Client: VeriSign Inc.
Agency: Sapient / Client: Coca-Cola Co./Burn

Mobile or Wireless Campaign
Agency: Ad Infuse/Mindshare/Phonevalley / Client: Strongbow Cider, “Flirtogram”
Agency: AKQA / Client: Nike, “PHOTOiD”
Agency: Moxie Interactive / Client: Twentieth Century Fox/Jumper

Use of Gaming
Agency: AKQA / Client: McDonald’s
Agency: MS3 Marketing / Client: Colgate Palmolive/Speed Stick 24/7
Agency: Play/Denuo / Client: General Motors/Buick

Use of Widgets
Agency: Cheil Worldwide / Client: Samsung/Juke
Agency: Euro RSCG 4D / Client: iShares
Agency: Mediaedge:cia/Mindshare / Client: Ford/Sync

Viral Campaign
Agency: Brief Attention Span Communications / Client: Serena Software, Inc., “Just @#$% It” and “Go @#$% Yourself”
Agency: Element79 / Client: Gatorade, “Ball Girl”
Agency: McKinney / Client: Virgin Mobile, “Promiscuous Text”

Advertising/Promotion Web Site or Microsite
Agency: 65 Media / Client: Twentieth Century Fox/The Simpsons Movie
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners / Client: Adobe Creative Suite 3, “Adobe Layer Tennis”
Agency: Q Interactive / Client: UPS, “UPS Whiteboard Headquarters”

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Break Media, the Internet’s premier entertainment community for men, and Panache, the video advertising delivery-platform leader, today announced key findings from joint research which tested the effectiveness of four popular in-stream video advertising standard formats established by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in May, 2008.

Leading brands, including Honda and T-Mobile, participated in the study by running campaigns run-of-site on Break.com over an 11 week period, which concluded on August 2, 2008. Each campaign used the four IAB standardized ad units: linear non-interactive (pre-roll), linear interactive (interactive pre-roll), non-linear non-overlay invitation ad (non-overlay ad) and non-linear overlay (overlay ad). The ads ran against short-form professional, semi-professional and user-generated content on Break.com with Panache providing the ad delivery and back-end reporting technology to test user interaction and engagement levels with each ad format.

“The standardization of video ad formats by the IAB was a critical first step in streamlining media buying, planning and creative processes across the digital video medium,” said Keith Richman, CEO of Break Media. “Our research was a result of our desire to provide data about the effectiveness of those new standards to our clients and partners, and to lay a foundation for future research initiatives to build and expand upon.”

Key Findings

Break Media and Panache were able to mine the data for trends and insights into consumer behavior and online engagement using the various ad formats.

Findings showed:
– Overall results demonstrate the high engagement levels of tested ad units and that marketing objectives should drive creative development
– Pre-roll offers a strong call to action (click-thru rates averaged 10%); Non-Overlays’ strength appears to be in building brand awareness (78% viewed the ad for more than 15 seconds, a majority of the time)
– Pre-roll showed surprisingly high engagement with incredibly high click-thru rates when interacting with a targeted audience
– Completion rates for both 15 second pre-roll and interactive pre-roll averaged 87%
– Pre-roll click-thru rate for the 15 second spot was close to 10%
– Interactive pre-roll click-thru rate for the 15 second spot ranged between 11% higher and 35% higher than non interactive pre-roll depending on the nature of the call to action
– The overlay ad yielded high exposure and overall engagement
– 77% viewed campaigns with the overlay ad for at least 15 seconds and click-thru rates were five times industry averages for standard in-page media
– Media-rich creative with bold colors and animation resulted in increased click-thru rates
– Click-thru rates almost tripled for the non-overlay ads when using brighter, vibrant colors (.045 vs. 0.13%)
– When using interactive pre-roll ads, having the entire ad clickable appeared to impact call to action
– Click-thru rates were four times as high when the entire ad was clickable vs. just the call to action.

“For the in-stream advertising market to evolve, the efficacy of ad formats—whether IAB-standard or new emerging formats—needs to be understood in order for our industry to scale,” said Steve Robinson, CEO of Panache. “This research begins to fill the knowledge gap between the formation of standards and the prophetic future of an efficient and scalable online advertising industry.”

“This study offers a window into the measurable effectiveness of new video ad formats, and it moves forward the broader discussion of online brand-building and advertising,” said Daniel Taylor, senior analyst at Yankee Group. “As the industry develops new ways to engage online audiences, it’s important to benchmark the progress we make. By making this study public, Break and Panache have advanced the entire industry.”

The study conducted by Break and Panache provides a guide for advertisers looking to validate online ad spend and determine the best format and creative to lift key engagement metrics and build brands. It is also intended to spur additional insight on best practices for brands advertising online.

About Break Media

Break Media is the Internet’s premier entertainment community for men. Its wholly owned branded properties (Break.com, Cage Potato, Chickipedia, Holy Taco, Wall Street Fighter and Screen Junkies) and the over 70 site Break Media Network reach 50 million men worldwide each month. Founded in 1998, Break Media offers advertisers unrivaled opportunities to market directly to a young, male demographic using innovative ad formats that introduce relevant brands to the audience either broadly or on a targeted, integrated basis. For more information, please visit http://breakmedia.break.com/.

About Panache

Founded in 2006, Panache is a privately held company headquartered in Los Angeles. The Panache technology enables Internet video sites and networks to dynamically deliver any ad format directly into video content from a third-party ad server or ad network. Ad formats can be generated and delivered to viewers based on profiling and behavioral targeting, resulting in a highly customized experience for the user and a highly scalable model for the video publisher. With Panache, ad formats are completely detached from the video player, allowing publishers to create and deploy new advertising formats in minutes without engineering resources. Panache’s patent-pending solution makes it easy to deliver advanced interactive advertising to all video-distribution channels, including broadband, television, IPTV and other emerging technologies. For more information, visit http://www.panachetech.com.

Metacafe specializes in short videos, precisely what works best for online consumers who don’t have the time or the patience to look into long form video content. Having said this, it becomes pretty obvious that the overall monetization opportunities for Metacafe have just diversified further, putting the company in a very enviable position.

Short videos are the easiest to monetize, and the most efficient given the higher CPM or CPE rates for:

- pre-rolls, mid-rolls and post-rolls;
- overlay ads;
- interactive video ads;
- companion ads.

They can usually hold more advertising time and calls to action per minute of content (by comparison with long form video content) and studies show that the user interaction levels are higher.

Metacafe’s most recent deals* will likely please agencies and advertisers looking for quality and legitimate video content to advertise against, as most video platforms are simply un-monetizable due to copyright issues (YouTube, for example).

What’s next for Metacafe? Perhaps renouncing their independent status and graciously accepting an offer from one of the suitors – that’ll be one sweet deal!

*
60 Frames, which finances and syndicates professionally produced short-form digital entertainment and creates unique, highly effective online advertising opportunities for national brands
Aniboom, a leading animation virtual production studio that teams up with creators around the world to produce a wide range of original animated content.
CelebTV.com, which delivers up-to-the-minute entertainment news 24/7, offering the sophistication and credibility of a television news network, while providing the on-demand, real-time benefits of a premium online destination
Collegiate Images, the centralized licensing and rights clearance agency that manages the distribution of copyrighted intellectual property content, focusing exclusively on college sports
Comedy.com, a comedy entertainment site that combines user-generated content and original, professionally produced content from some of the funniest peeps in the business
Comedy Time, the global market leader in original comedy content created for wireless handsets and broadband
Diagonal View, an aggregator of original viral video entertainment
GamePro Media, publishers of GamePro.com and GamePro Magazine, and a division of IDG
Howcast, which shows consumers the web’s most engaging, useful how-to videos wherever, whenever they need to learn how…
SXM, the production company behind “Easy to Assemble,” a scripted Web series written and created by and starring Illeana Douglas, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Arnold, Craig Bierko, Kevin Pollack, Justine Bateman and Ed Begley Jr., and sponsored by IKEA
Wannahaves, an aggregator of videos on the latest gadgets, games and gear
YoungHollywood.com, one of the largest producers of original celebrity programming in Hollywood.

NEW YORK, NY (July 29, 2008)—To meet the need for standardization in the expanding digital video landscape, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today announced the release of a “Digital Video Ad Serving Template” (VAST), designed to standardize communication protocol between video players and servers.

VAST will allow companies to build digital video players and video ad servers that have the same interfaces and speak the same standard language. Publishers who use the standard will be able to plug into multiple third-party digital video ad servers and networks without additional development and therefore enable a powerful tool for improving yield.

This document:

- Defines a standard ad response for in-stream video
- Provides specifications that are compatible with any video player framework
- Includes guidance for most on-demand video players (i.e., Adobe’s Flash, Microsoft’s Windows Media Player and Real Player)
- Includes accommodations for linear video and interactive ads (e.g.“pre-roll”) as well as non-linear ads such as clickable overlays as described in the IAB Digital Ad Format Guidelines

“Digital video is one of the most exciting platforms to emerge within the interactive advertising ecosystem,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “VAST is a critical industry accomplishment because it lays out a much-needed mechanism for standardization in one of the hottest areas of interactive advertising.”

“VAST allows for standardized communication between ad servers and players which is essential as more and more marketers embrace digital video as a key element of their interactive media plans and publishers wish to maximize yield on their video inventory,” said Ari Paparo, Group Product Manager, Advertiser Products of Google.

The public comment period will last until September 10, 2008. The feedback will then be reviewed and the document will be finalized and publicly released.

To review the complete document, please go to: http://www.iab.net/vast

About the IAB’s Digital Video Committee:
The Digital Video Committee of the IAB is comprised of over 145 member companies actively engaged in the creation and execution of digital video advertising. One of the goals of the committee is to implement a comprehensive set of guidelines, measurement, and creative options for interactive video advertising. The committee works to educate marketers and agencies on the strength of digital video as a marketing vehicle. A full list of Committee member companies can be found at: http://www.iab.net/member_center/35088?iabid=a0330000000s0p4AAA

About the IAB:
Founded in 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (www.iab.net) represents over 375 leading interactive companies that actively engage in and support the sale of interactive advertising. IAB members are responsible for selling over 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the continuing growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices, fields interactive effectiveness research, and educates marketers, agencies, and media companies, as well as the wider business community, about the value of interactive advertising.

Finally, somebody shows initiative in regard to in-stream advertising, and gets the ball rolling towards some degree of organization. Setting best practices and industry standards is still somewhere far, far, away – even though the IAB did kickstart the process when they formulated the in-stream ad metrics definitions.

New York, NY – July 29, 2008 – As growing numbers of advertisers look to video as a powerful channel for connecting with consumers online, leading online advertising network and technology provider, Collective Media, today unveiled the Collective Video Network.

The new video network – which builds on the company’s experience in delivering and managing targeted video campaigns – is supported by Collective Media’s proprietary AMP™ platform. It allows advertisers to leverage high-quality video content from the premium publishers that comprise the Collective Network, offering a suite of in-stream ad units, including pre-roll and overlay video formats.

According to data from eMarketer, U.S. spending on Internet video advertising is expected to grow to $4.3 billion by 2011 – and is currently the fastest growing segment of online display advertising. Yet advertisers are often frustrated by the manual processes that still surround many in-stream video network offerings. Collective Media has designed the Collective Video Network as a centralized and automated solution with ‘an encode once and play everywhere’ capability.

Collective Video also provides advertisers with the same audience targeting, optimizing and reporting technology normally reserved for in-page ad units only. Advertisers can take advantage of Collective’s contextual and behavioral targeting platform when running an in-stream video campaign.

“Launching the Collective Video Network is a natural extension of our premium advertising network and the best-in-class technology we’ve developed in the AMP platform,” said Joe Apprendi, CEO of Collective Media. “Our work with brand advertisers in leveraging video inventory has given us a direct understanding of the pain points that still plague this area. The ease of use we’ve built into our video network, relative to implementing, targeting and optimizing a campaign, offers a scalable value proposition to the market.”

Apprendi added that the growing demand among advertisers to connect with relevant, high-quality video content matches the need of top-tier publishers to make smart and appropriate use of their online video assets. “Building on the strength of our publisher network and the inventory we provide, Collective will bring the expertise, quality and service for which we are known seamlessly to the video landscape,” he said.

The Collective Video Network is designed to provide a centralized and automated single-platform solution that is also highly-scalable. Advertisers that run video-based campaigns through the network will benefit from Collective’s comprehensive reporting which provides standardized video view and interaction metrics via the AMP platform.

The Collective Video Network is the latest offering in a growing suite of Collective Media products and services – which also includes the AMP platform as well as Personifi, its audience targeting system.

About Collective Media
Collective Media is a leading online advertising network and technology company. The Collective Network links high quality, brand-name publishers with Fortune 1000 advertisers. Collective Media’s AMP™ offers high end publishers an ad network management platform to create their own branded, vertical ad networks. Collective’s innovative approach enables both brand and direct advertisers to achieve superior results through sophisticated audience targeting technology, including contextual, behavioral, geographic and re-targeting. Founded in 2005, Collective Media is headquartered in New York City with offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Visit Collective Media at www.collective-media.com.

We’ll be having a press conference at our Dublin offices later today (noon GMT) that may or may not be followed by a party – keep your ears open if you’re around, cause we do know how to party!

If you’re an artist or a music fan, here’s what MUZU.TV has for you: an extensive library of music related video content, as MUZU has signed a deal with major record label Sony BMG and also over 200 international labels which include Defected Records, Cherry Red Records, and Eagle Rock to name a few. MUZU TV protects the rights of music on the site and generates income by a shared advertising revenue with the music content owners including unsigned artists.

MUZU TV Features:

FAN TV – With a profile on MUZU.TV, a fan has the ability to upload videos onto the artists page. These videos can be from live performances, TV footage, or personal footage with the band or of songs from the band / artist.

CHANNELS – You can create channels in your personal profile of your favorite songs and videos and add them to your player. You can create as many channels as you want to be featured on your profile.

EMBED PLAYER – The player that is featured on each profile can be embedded into an artist or a fans personal website by using the embedding code from the player. Any changes that a person makes to the player within their MUZU.TV player – those changes will update on the player where it has been embedded.

I know, you’re on a blog about online advertising, so chances are you’d want to know how MUZU.TV is monetized: we’re mostly relying on direct sales and employing Google AdSense to cover the remnant inventory. In parallel, we’re working at the moment on a number of deals with video and rich media ad networks in order to make the most of our rapidly expanding video inventory.

The ad serving platform we’re using is DoubleClick DFP, and we’re also employing Fivia’s excellent AdFront solution for smooth integration of the ad operations with Sales and Finance.

Advertising opportunities on MUZU.TV

- TV Player and Channel: to showcase brand-owned music video content and a selection of artist’s content from within the MUZU TV site
- Embed your Music TV player into brand’s site with a selection of content from MUZU TV and brand’s own content
- Interactive Video Product Placement: Interactively authored objects within video, with clickable product that pauses content, and allows the user to get info & / or purchase. Agreement with Artist / label required
- In Stream Video ad formats: Interstitial sting, Rich media Ticker, Expandable Ticker, post roll video / clickable sting
- Standard Rich Media formats: Button, MPU, Skyscraper, Leaderboard, Supersizes, Expandable, Overlay, Roadblock, Advanced video, Transitional
- Integrated Co-branded competitions for User / Artist Generated Content: incentives to specific users to contribute to a brand’s Channel
- Branded Live Streams: from branded events or the MUZU TV studio
- Sponsored Content: (On a select basis)
- Campaign targeting to specific User’s demographics, Genres, Artists, Festivals, Venues and more…

If you are a member of the press and would like to get in touch with us, please email Debra Johnson at Taylor Herring PR: debra.johnson@taylorherring.com

If you would like to discuss about advertising opportunities, please contact advertising@muzu.tv or call us at + 353 1 487 7740.

For any other enquiries, shoot us an email at info@muzu.tv and one of us will get back to you right away!

P.S. I’ve just noticed this is my 100th blog post! One more reason to celebrate today