SAN FRANCISCO--More than a dozen executives from various Web video services gathered Tuesday in a small meeting room in the corner of Adobe Systems' Bay Area headquarters to discuss "the state of online video." The round table, which was organized by video news network Beet.tv, wasn't for an impending emergency, but there was a somber tone. Falling ad rates, crunched credit, and lackluster consumer spending have already started to take their toll on the Web video business.
NewTeeVee's Liz Gannes, who moderated the latter half of the round table, asked the executives how the current economic climate had changed how their companies did business. The answer from many centered on advertising. Not necessarily how much the companies were getting from ads, but how the experimentation that had once opened up new ways to make money and draw attention had been stepped down dramatically.
Dan Beltramo, CEO of Vizu, which measures the advertising of brands, said that advertisers simply aren't spending as much money, and as a result they can't go out and try new things. Beltramo says the real losers in this situation end up being the smaller sites, as the ad companies then go with the safer ad bet on a bigger site.
What may come out of this lack of experimentation in 2009 is a more ubiquitous ad format for videos though. A much-discussed topic was that ad units inside videos has largely been a custom job, with sizes, shapes, and formats of all types. The end result is that advertisers have to spend more time trying to shape them to specific sites instead of offering something that could be used across the Web. With budgets stretched tight, and advertisers more wary, this may pave the way for new standards, which could benefit some of the smaller companies.
Over a dozen executives from various parts of the Web video industry meet to discuss where it's going in 2009.
(Credit: CNET Networks / Josh Lowensohn)Looking to the future
For YouTube, 2008 was a banner year which can be traced back to politics. More specifically the U.S. presidential election. The site saw a large surge in political content from 2007-2008, with YouTube's News Manager Olivia Ma putting that number somewhere around 600 percent year-over-year.
Ma says YouTube's big focus in 2009 is to let users stream video wherever they are from any device they use. Whether she was referring to the viewing of content, or broadcasting it was unclear. In late 2008 YouTube experimented with live broadcasting as part of its YouTube Live event, although the same technology has not been made available to its users, despite Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube alluding to it last February.
Another focus of 2009 may be streaming costs and storage. For Motionbox, which offers video hosting specifically targeted at family and friends, costs are going up. Chris O'Brien, Motionbox's chairman says that costs in both storage and streaming of HD files is pushing his company to raise prices this year. His company's paid service, which normally costs $30 a year may see a bump to $40. "Storage has gotten cheaper, but not that much cheaper," he says.
This same effect has already been seen on other sites. Last year Vimeo introduced its Plus service, which gives its paying users the capability to upload more HD footage, while at the same time noticeably limiting how much embedded HD playback and uploading its nonpaying members were doing. Flickr, which just introduced HD video on Monday could end up going the same route, as the price of its $25 a year pro subscription allows for uploading an unlimited number of HD clips (albeit small ones).
You can catch the entire three-hour roundtable, which has been split up into two parts, over on UStream.TV (part 1, part 2).
Wildscreen TV is a video host for film or clip makers who want to make some money off their work without having to build their own sites. Content creators who put up their videos get 100 percent of the ad revenue and access to a great video player that converts source footage into DVD-resolution streams. It's not as pretty as some of the "HD" quality streams from providers like Vimeo, DailyMotion, or Motionbox, but if your source content is good it looks simply fantastic.
As with other broadcast video hosts, content creators can make their own channels. What's especially cool is that the entire page can be skinned to the creator's liking. When used correctly you can achieve similar results to some of the special branded pages on YouTube that advertisers and companies are paying to get. Also, the advertising is completely customizable, and you can bring in ad units from Google, Amazon, AdBright, and eBay.
Wildscreen TV is quite file friendly, which I'm a fan of. It'll take any length and any size of video that you can throw at it with ease. The uploader supports multiple files at once and gives you plenty of stats along the way, such as how much time is left and the total percentage of how far it's gone. Both the 12MB and 150MB test videos I uploaded were processed and showed up on my video list in less than two minutes, which is phenomenal.
Wildscreen is off to a great start. The quality of the player and the generous hosting options offer a lot more than some big name video-hosting services. I also like that it's open to several advertising options--which means you won't have to sign up for something new if you've got a system you're already using.
I've embedded a sample video below. To see the video page, click here.
Today Motionbox is taking an important step forward as a video host. It's now supporting high definition footage uploaded by its premium users, who get to partake in unlimited file size or storage limitations as part of the $30 a year service. Regular users will also notice a quality bump, as the supported resolution has been increased to DVD quality to help meet the now standard VGA quality and beyond on most point-and-shoot cameras.
HD videos can be encoded in any of the popular competing formats, including AVCHD which only recently began to meander into consumer level video editing software suites. Users are also able to edit raw, uncut HD footage in MotionBox's Web-based editing tools. This feature should make it easier and far less expensive for people who want to do simple edits to HD footage without upgrading computer hardware.
The sample clips I've seen are beautiful and load instantly. If you've spent any time on Vimeo and its high definition gallery the experience is similar. Both suffer from the technological shortcoming of not letting embedded clips be in high definition, meaning you'll have to visit the Web site if you want to see for yourself. Update: I've gotten the supersecret embed code to drop the HD player on the page. See update note the end of the post for more information, and click the "read more" link to watch it.
Motionbox is coming to the HD crowd a little late, but it is offering some interesting tandem services to entice prosumers who are looking less at broadcasting to the masses, and more to small groups of friends and family. In a few weeks, MotionBox will launch a custom DVD service that will let users drop clips onto a virtual DVD and have it printed and sent to themselves or to friends. With the right permissions, users will also be able to take your clips and burn them onto a DVD if you make that option available. CEO Chris O'Brien also tells me the flipbooks, which were introduced last November have been enjoyed by users.
If you're a heavy HD user looking to share some HD footage with others on the cheap, Dailymotion and Vimeo serve up free hosting. There are caveats for each though. Dailymotion needs you to be a MotionMaker and broadcast your stuff to everyone, while Vimeo limits your weekly file uploads to 500MB which might be pushing it for some long, raw 1080p footage.
Note: O'Brien says that users will eventually be able to embed the HD videos themselves, but we've been given a special code for this one. Also be sure to vote to see the results in the poll below. Looks like a lot of you don't have HD cameras.
... Read more
You know the warp feature on YouTube that's been kicking around for a while? Well video community YourTrumanShow has launched a similar tool this morning in the form of a Facebook app that lets you view your network of friends in a large array, and watch videos they've uploaded to various services without leaving the page.
Like YouTube's implementation, each video has its own collection of related clips, creating a large Web of videos that you can navigate around like an online map. You're also able to meet new social networking buddies based on your shared taste of online clips, or simply see who else has watched or bookmarked what you're viewing.
For non-Facebook users, the company is planning to launch an OpenSocial version to plug into other social networks including MySpace and Bebo. The data will be cross pollinated, meaning you'll be able to browse and watch videos with the same group of people from wherever you're accessing the app. Currently there's support for YouTube and clips on YourTrumanShow, although there are plans to add other content hosts in the future.
The idea sprang from a similar implementation seen on the YourTrumanShow site. As shown off at the DemoFall 2007 show back in September, the service will visualize user interaction with a video, from commenting to video replies using lines and thumbnails. In comparison, YouTube separates each of those into its own subcluster.
While the visuals look snazzy, for comparison's sake I found the tool to be a little less intuitive or engaging than YouTube's warp feature; although I do appreciate that YourTrumanShow makes you click on things before exploding with little video thumbnails. I'm also a little confused to see any company launch advanced functionality on someone else's service instead its home site, because YourTrumanShow's existing linking technology is very rich but could benefit from this exploratory option.
Visualize your friend connections and scope out their video tastes with the YourTrumanShow Facebook app.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Despite the immediate threat of a hostile takeover by Microsoft, Yahoo's kicked it into high gear. In just two weeks Yahoo has released a hot new product (Yahoo Live), announced mobile social communication tool OneConnect, acquired online video platform provider Maven Networks, killed off its music service and replaced it with Rhapsody, and launched a completely new version of collaboration suite Zimbra.
This morning the parade of changes continues with the relaunch of Yahoo Video. Besides an all new layout, Yahoo Video is coming a little closer to YouTube. It is emphasizing editor-chosen content alongside the most popular videos on the service. One of them being the new trailer for Indiana Jones, which oddly enough looks significantly better, and is available in HD on Yahoo's Movies property.
The Flash video player (the most important part of the service) has been given a face-lift with slightly higher resolutions and a new wide-screen display that can be embedded on blogs or other Web sites. User file size limits have been increased to 150MB, letting users upload larger videos files sizes that tend to come with wide-screen clips. Standard 4:3 video simply plays in the player with black bars on each side.
Yahoo Video has an all new look and wide-screen player. Oh yeah, and there's that trailer for the new Indy movie.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Also revamped are personal profiles. Users can create playlists and embed them on third party pages. Like YouTube's efforts, there are tiny thumbnails for each clip, and the creator can swap the order and choose whether it plays continuously.
New to the mix are "networks," which are a simple way to browse content by genre. The videos come from various Yahoo properties, and each network is skinned to match. It's a distinctively different feel at each network, and does a much better job at encapsulating content and the feel for each brand than YouTube's efforts with its partner channels.
I've embedded an example of the new video playlists after the break. Also, if you want to read more about the update, Yahoo's got a full listing of the changes on the Yahoo Video blog.
... Read more
Video hosting and sharing service Viddler has undergone a facelift this morning just in time for the Web 2.0 Expo. Embedded videos now have Viddler branding, and a new drop-down menu filled with sharing and embedding options. Users are also now able to comment on video clips, not just certain moments of a video.
What's neat about the update player is that it takes the community experience that you get on Viddler, and puts it on any site where a player is embedded. Anyone with a Viddler username and password can login from the embed, and add or browse comments, tags or notes. Pretty neat.
I've embedded an example video below. Previous Viddler coverage here.
Related: divShare adds video to file hosting service
UPDATE: Added Viddler's self-made explanatory video after the jump. We see quite a few screencasts here at Webware, and this is one of the better ones out there.
... Read more
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
It's a common problem: your point-and-shoot camera's microphone picked up nothing but wind while you were at the park shooting a video of people flying kites. The solution? Wipe over the track with music. But putting licensed music over the videos not only requires video editing software, but also the digital rights to publish. YouTube has rolled out a new service called AudioSwap which hopes to quell both of those problems.
To use AudioSwap, just pick a video you've uploaded and browse the provided audio list. You'll get a preview right away, and with the click of a button YouTube will start processing the request. I found with my test video it only took about 30 seconds to show up with the new music, which is far sooner than it would take to manually add music and re-export it in a video editing program.
It will be interesting to see whether YouTube ventures into a paid-for license model, to add new and popular music tracks to videos for a small fee.
[via Mashable]
Microsoft unleashed its Soapbox Web video platform to the unwashed masses yesterday, taking the service out of private beta. We covered Microsoft Soapbox in September. The service has a clean and simple layout, and manages to keep both the MSN moniker and the often-clunky Windows Live Login (formerly .NET Passport). What baffles me about this is that despite having access to all your personal information, Soapbox won't parse your Windows Live ID to fill in simple profile information like your name and location, unless you've recently gone through and updated it since opening a Hotmail account in the 90s. Nor will it go through your Windows Live e-mail to see if you want to share any videos that have been sent to you by friends. If Microsoft is aiming for no-nonsense integration with its Web services, it's sadly not there yet.
That being said, Microsoft did add the ability to post videos in your blog, which was one of our original Soapbox criticisms. The catch is that it has to be a Windows Live Spaces blog. Alternatively, there are the standard permalinks and embed codes for you to send to friends or put on your blog or Web site.
Below I've embedded one of my favorite videos. Note the fact you can access both share codes and description from the player itself. Neat.
Video: Amazingly Cool Ad
Lycos Mix is a new video-playlist creation tool that lets you string together video clips from various hosting services. The videos sit beside a live chat window based off of Lycos' Cinema technology. Casual observers can come in, watch videos, and chat with you. It's almost like a bar except a little creepier.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
When you're done adding content, which is done by pasting URLs or using the Lycos Mix bookmarklet from the content's source page, you can watch, rearrange, or chat about the videos, all within the same screen. The adding process is a little arduous, as sites such as iFilm, Viddler, and Revver aren't (yet) compliant. Even worse, in both Internet Explorer and Firefox my botched video embed code couldn't be removed from the Lycos Mix submission box. I had to back out of the uploading form and go back in to clear it out. I seriously doubt the casual user is going to have patience for that.
Video-playlist creation has been done before and by many other companies. Most recently SplashCast and Feedbeat. The chat feature is neat, but 9 times out of 10, I'm watching a video because I've received a link to it via e-mail or from a friend's IM. Nearly all video services have comments now, which serve as a permanent forum for conversation. In that sense, I just don't see a need for live chat integration.
See also YouTube's TestTube.
Part social network and part 3D virtual world, Kaneva also throws in a dash of YouTube, with media sharing for pictures and Flash video. I received news of the service today, but Kaneva has been kicking about since late 2004. Essentially you begin with a standard social-network profile, then earn prestige points to work your way up a site leaderboard until you're invited to join the 3D social world, which launched its beta in April of last year.
Points are given as rewards for adding content to your profile and interacting with other Keneva members. Once you join the 3D world (which looks quite similar to The Sims and Second Life), you can hang out (virtually) with other Kaneva users and even interact with each other's shared media, which can be ported into the 3D world.
As a social networking site, Kaneva is very similar to MySpace, with preset profile themes akin to Trig (covered last month). It's got all the usual bells and whistles, with friend requests, comments, embeddable widgets, and interservice e-mail. What's a little creepy is how many friend requests and "raves" (basically personal Diggs) I got within mere hours of signing up with Kaneva. There are over 100,000 Kaneva users, and without having even a dab of content on my profile I had received 16 comments and a dozen friend requests--more than my Facebook profile has received in several weeks. Either people are madly attempting to spam new profiles to get invites to the 3D app, or there's just an active, friendly community. Based on the terseness of the rave comments, my guess is the former.
As for the 3D app itself, it's free (for now), Windows-only, and requires a fairly speedy processor with 3D acceleration. The combination of the virtual world with your real-life profile is interesting, but I can't help but think some people without capable PCs are going to feel a little left out just using the profile service.
Kaneva seems like a bold move, attempting to forge one community with what is essentially two completely different services, but people seem to be using it. Whether it will "turn" Second Life and MySpace users is questionable, but for now, blending the two services looks to be Kaneva's biggest draw.
