A Step Closer to Interactive Product Placement
There is no doubt that online video is blowing up. With increased online use and investment levels on the supply side, have come innovation and experimentation with respect to monetization opportunities, such as dynamically placed inline ads being developed by the likes of Blinkx and Adap.tv.
The NewTeeVee blog reports on a new form of online video ads centered on product placement (developed by product placement firm Delivery Agent), known as Shopisodes. Watch the video to get a full sense of what they’re trying to accomplish.
The experience is somewhat choppy and limited, it seems, to certain “infotainment” programming (think home makeover shows). But more important, it gives a glimpse into what could be possible across various interactive video formats, both online and in the living room (IPTV).
These Shopisodes are also created manually by poring over hours of programming to find ad placement opportunities around the appearance of certain products. Give it time before something more automated and real time (live programming) is developed.
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Related: Many of the possibilities for interactive advertising on IPTV systems were discussed in the TKG report From Reach to Targeting: The Transformation of TV in the Internet Age (and to a degree, in a past blog post).
I am surprised that you mention Adap.tv and Blinkx but fail to mention the real industry leader, ScanScout. Only six months ago, NBCU and Microsoft, were quoted in the WSJ stating they thought ScanScout’s technology offering was “pretty interesting stuff.” ScanScout provides a three way, metadata, speech and visual recognition, tagging and filtering system—it is the only company in the online video ad vertical that has this technology. ScanScout also provides brands and agencies a market exchange opportunity, through which brands and agencies can bid for placement, targeting consumers’ behaviors and different kinds of content.
Comment by achartwell — August 21, 2007 @ 5:44 pm
Thanks for the comment. I’ve mentioned scan scout elsewhere in this same context and you are right that they are doing interesting things. I am scheduled to talk to the company this week, and will blog more about the conversation. This is an exciting area.
Comment by Mike Boland — August 27, 2007 @ 3:52 pm