com.motion » youtube

As Google Sites Surpasses 10 Billion Video Views, Do TV Networks Still Matter?

Lynn Eastep — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:08:50 +0000

Do traditional TV networks still matter? Recent attempts by networks to find online video business models has revealed the tension between the networks’ willingness to experiment and their desire to control how their content is distributed.

In August, online video reached another all-time high with more than 25 billion videos viewed during the month, according comScore. With YouTube accounting for 99% of its video views, Google was able to rake in more than 10 billion video views in total for the month of August in the U.S. — an increase of more than a billion views in just one month. comScore also credits the internet giant with nearly 40% of the total market share for all online video views. Other notable findings from August 2009 include:

The average online video viewer watched 582 minutes of video, or 9.7 hours.
120.5 million viewers watched nearly 10 billion videos on YouTube.com (82.6 videos per viewer).
44.9 million viewers watched 340 million videos on MySpace.com (7.6 videos per viewer).
The average Hulu viewer watched 12.7 videos, totaling 1 hour and 17 minutes of videos per viewer.
The duration of the average online video was 3.7 minutes.

The comScore findings underscores the growth and importance of online video. A recent poll of nearly 300 media execs by JackMyers Media Business Report and Teletrax predicts that 40% of all video consumption will occur outside of the television set by 2012.

While user-generated video continues to be popular, there has been a dramatic increase in both the number of online video providers as well as the amount of professionally produced video available online. The frenetic wheeling and dealing for digital distribution of TV programs — just as the fall season is gearing up — reflects the television networks’ attempts to find Internet business models that can be profitable and still protect both their intellectual property and their brand identity.

Stripper turns car thief

Keith McArthur — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:33:00 +0000

I had to share this video from our Boomerang Tracking client. The Boomerang device sends out a signal so stolen cars can be found and recovered. Here’s video from an actual track involving an unexpected thief.

Social Media This Week: November 14, 2008

Brenna Flynn — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:02:00 +0000

Today com.motionblog launches a new weekly feature where we help our readers keep on top of the latest developments in the rapidly-evolving world of social media. Check back each Friday for the top headlines of the past week.

Live.com by Microsoft

The news: This week, Microsoft’s Live.com online portal has evolved from a search engine into a new social network. Site users are automatically connected with their contacts on the popular instant messaging portal Windows Live Messenger. The users’ profiles include basic personal information and can pull content from other blogging sites, microblogging sites, and photo sharing sites. Users can access other online services including e-mail, calendar, online storage and downloading services that include other Office programs such as Movie Maker. Microsoft’s goal is to ultimately increase site traffic on Live.com and they’ve leveraged what they own: instant messaging.

Key question: Can Microsoft gain enough traction with Live.com to become a real player in the mass social network market dominated by MySpace and Facebook?

Facebook Engagement Ads

The news: Using a healthy mix of both online advertising and social networking, Facebook launched a new “engagement ad” format this week. The ads appear on the main login page and prompt users to RSVP to a TV show season finale or comment on a movie trailer. That ad then gets promoted by sharing the update with the user’s friends. Facebook is charging more for the new engagement ads than it currently does for the display ads. The ads give Facebook users three unique experiences: commenting on ads for all friends to see, giving virtual gifts and becoming a fan of a certain ad.

Key question: Can Facebook turn an enormously successful social network into a successful business model?

Sponsored Videos on YouTube

The news: Although there has been buzz for some time, YouTube formally announced the launch of Sponsored Videos. The videos direct viewers to certain clips that they might be interested in after conducting a search. Marketers will be able to use this new service by seeding a campaign or to launch a new video. The product strives to help advertisers target keywords in a cost-per-click auction similar to that of Google’s AdWords service. The ads have a thumbnail image and three lines of promotional verbiage pointing to a specific page.

Key question: When will Sponsored Videos (if at all) replace AdWords on Google?

Does your job suck?

Keith McArthur — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:20:00 +0000

We’ve been crazy busy here at com.motion over the last few weeks. And now we can talk about why.

We’re helping STAPLES Business Depot to launch Staplesville.ca, an online recruiting Web site that is totally unlike any other.

The launch is being supported by a social media release, a blogger relations campaign, a Facebook fan page and a YouTube video.

The following video features Ben Miner, a Toronto stand-up comedian who hosts a XM Satelite Radio’s Laugh Attack channel:

"YouTube no place to discuss ideas"

Keith McArthur — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:12:00 +0000

What do you get when you take a land claims dispute, a politician, an iconic Canadian doughnut shop and mix in a little social media? An innovative if somewhat hokey YouTube video.

Here’s one of a series of five videos released last week by Michael Bryant, Ontario’s minister for aboriginal affairs, to mark the two-year anniversary of the Six Nations dispute in Caledonia.

And here’s what NDP Leader Howard Hampton had to say about it:

YouTube is not the place to communicate either policy or to communicate government messages.

To me, Howard’s comments show a complete lack of appreciation for the social media and the cultural revolution behind it.

Joseph Brean, a fine reporter at the National Post, called me up to get my thoughts on the tactic and did to me what I did to hundreds of others in my years as a reporter — he boiled our ten minute talk into a dozen or so words.

Fortunately, I got the chance to expand on my views in the latest Inside PR podcast, which will be released tomorow. After 100 episodes, co-hosts David Jones and Terry Fallis have turned the show into a round-table format and invited me, Julie Rusciolelli and Martin Waxman to join them.

In episode 101 we discuss the thorny question of why PR people are somtimes seen as slimeballs and the Bryant YouTube video.

Marg Delahunty confronts bigtime ad execs on YouTube

Keith McArthur — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:37:00 +0000

When I covered the airline industry at the Globe and Mail, I got to write about some great characters, including Robert Milton, Clive Beddoe, Mark Hill, Michel Leblanc and Angus Kinnear. But that was nothing compared to the characters I encountered when I moved over to covering the advertising business.

One of the biggest personalities in Canadian advertising is Geoffrey Roche, chief creative officer at Lowe Roche in Toronto.

Check-out what happens in this video when Marg Delahunty confronts Geoffrey on behalf of OXFAM.

Oxfam has produced similar videos with other personalities including Glen Hunt (the man behind Molson’s famous “My Name is Joe and I am Canadian” spot and Nancy Vonk (one of the creative directors behind the team that created the Dove Evolution spot.

mcarthur (at) veritascanada.com

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