Not sure if you heard but YouTube got gobbled by Google (proud owner of a gaudy 25% of internet advertising) last week. Its a confirmation of ’sector desirability’ (as are the Universal lawsuit and today’s news about a draft EU directive that would essentially treat every video on the web as a TV station–nothing says popularity like lawsuits and misguided government) an
d its got me and everyone else thinking again about the best way link advertising and video. Lots of sites are already doing pre and post roll ads but to be useful they have to be contextual (Google does more than gobble, it teaches us too). Of course, its simple enough to search on user-provided tags and descriptions but these are too easy to mess up and too tempting to massage. Clearly, the best way to contextual videos is using voice and image recognition to exactly determine content. Fortunately, quite a few places are already working on this. Pluggd has an amazing piece of actually functional software that allows users to search sound files by concept rather than keyword (so it knows the difference between, say, the Cincinnati Reds and the color red). It even gives you a pretty heat map to tell you when, where and at what relevancy level your concept is being discussed. There are also rumors of an ad platform in the near future. Others are doing the same, including Podzinger and many many others–see GigaOM for a more in-depth look (Where is the AdSense for Video and Audio?).
Now, the question here is what is next? As TV and radio become more and more on-demand services, search via voice and image recognition would be a killer app. Its like applying Google to your TV, or Pluggd to your radio. Want to find out about Blair’s latest press conference? Type in his name and get back programs that mention his name or keywords related to it or even programs that flash his picture. Then jump to the exact spot you are interested in. And this isnt far away, not at all it might even be here already.
October 19th, 2006
Owen Gibson continues his fine work, writing with Bobbie Johnson about the state of Web 2.0 in the UK (the piece came out yesterday but I wanted to give it my full attention so it had to wait until today) . There is a lot of good stuff here (especially the almost mythic stories about last.fm and their ‘tents on a roof’ employment incentive scheme) but first, let’s take a look at the obligatory list of 2.0 sites that comes with the article.
No fewer than 3 of the ten are near-pristine copies of American enterprises and the others might as well be; its a paltry list to say the least and to be honest I would have rather seen a list of possibilities (maybe concentrating on the burgeoning mobile market) instead of highlights of bastardized ‘innovation’ . The article is upfront about how slow the UK has been to the Web 2.0 flame and blames it partially on a dubious 10 year dotcom hangover and the relative volume disparity between the US and UK (300m pairs of eyes to 60m). But it is also quite optimistic:
“The conditions for startups are now very favourable,” says Philip Sheldrake, co-founder of property site OnOneMap.com. “Operating costs have dropped dramatically, servers are many times more powerful and cost a fraction of the price they did in 2000…. Peter Linthwaite, chief executive of the British Venture Capital Association, says the technology groundwork laid down in the UK by investors and universities years ago is beginning to pay off. “This is a long burn - the work that was done back in the mid-90s is only now beginning to come through. I think it’s an evolutionary period; the UK is ahead of many other countries and has a much stronger infrastructure, and I think the balance is shifting.”….Internet advertising in the UK is already three times the size of the radio market and is on course to overtake press revenues by the end of the year. According to figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau, almost £1bn was spent online by advertisers in the first six months of 2006.
And I say rightly so, the UK market is now primed for some specific local innovation, the money and the pipeline are clearly there, its just a case of that first big hit. If YouTube had come from London, don’t you think there would be 10,000 kids all around the county trying to figure out the coolest new web thingy?
October 17th, 2006
Its Monday and that means its time for Media supplement overload. Here’s an extremely unscientific top 5.
1) On the heels of Terry Lloyd’s unlawful death at the hands of American soldiers at the beginning of the campaign in Iraq and recent research indicating that this is most dangerous time for journalists in the last century, former foreign correspondent and current head of Guardian Film Maggie O’Kane asks how the international media can safely and effectively report from, in and about areas that are virtually inaccessible (think Chechyna, North Korea, even Darfur and Iraq). Her answer–through local participation, enlisting those already experiencing it to report on it–is right on and probably the smartest thing we have heard about international citizen reporting for a long long time. O’Kane recognizes expertise in experience, dexeterity in necessity in a way that is deeply satisfying. For her, it isn’t the fad of democratizing journalism that pushes her piece, its proven success in the face of the greatest of dangers.
2) Speaking of fads, I would be remiss now to miss Richard’s piece on the Telegraph’s much vaunted ‘reinvention’ in The Independent (paywall). Wading bravely into the fray (how much more can any of us take of this constant Telegraph barrage?) he says the new reorganization is more trendwatching than revolution, more blind hipster than wide-eyed rebel. In some ways he has to be right. Despite a glut of opportunity, The Telegraph has yet to convince anyone of the real of its total revamp. And, perhaps more damningly, the changes they are making aren’t even pushing the boundaries of what newspapers are. How embarassing that after hundreds of redundancies, acres of newsprint and hours of consideration this ‘reinvention’ only just bring the DT into the 21st century.
3) Other articles include Kim Fletcher’s newspaper column in The Guardian–as usual is a good read but, in a rare occurence, misses a trick. Fletcher worries over the place of Sunday papers in a internet driven world based on quick updates and constant turnover. What to do when a newspaper business is based on leisurely revelation and lengthy analysis? What we really need, and this is what Mr. Fletcher misses out on, is instant comment from a considered position, expert opinion based on a lifetime of work recollected in tranquility.
4) Plus, look at CosmoGIRL! (paywall and, more importantly, is that really the title? do they have to write it like that?) getting into the digital revolution by providing, via their MySpace page, a soundtrack to their annual music issue. Of course the reporter, Charlotte Philby, completely misses the point and asks if directly readers to MySpace is really such a good idea–”leading valuable readers into the hands of the enemy”. As if people would never use the thing unless directed by a teen magazine.
5) Also of interest, The Guardian’s suvery of bloggers finds 30.8% of people read blogs and 27% are creators of content, 65% consumers.
October 16th, 2006
