AdBrite has been around for quite a while with their contextual banner ads, text ads, interstitials (full page ads) and inline ads. But with the online video industry getting so much positive predictions they could simply not leave video advertising solution out of the mind. The result is AdBrite InVideo, a new and unique facility for video monetization. I say unique because they do not use they do not use the typical overlay or in-stream ad formats. Instead, AdBrite InVideo provides a player for flv files which has non-intrusive ads embedded inside the players. Advertisement links are located on the top of the player in a panel. When a viewer mouseovers on the video a rectangle banner comes down displaying the ads in more details and calling for some action. However, if no actions are taken it automatically disappers within a few seconds.

Key Features (according to AdBrite)

• Fully customizable video player easy to use and 100% free
• Video branding with custom logo "watermark"
• "Split Screen" ads to engage viewers without interrupting viewing experience
• Sharing features to earn from even when videos get "viral"
• Earn money even when they are embedded on others' websites

How To Integrate AdBrite InVideo

Raw Video File : At this point of time AdBrite InVideo only supports flv files. Windows Media files (.wmv), Quicktime (.mov), .mpg, .mpeg, .avi and all such formats are not supported. However, all these formats can be converted into .flv in a variety of ways. Moreover, AdBrite InVideo do not host the flv files. These are some of the drawbacks of the system but with other tools present on the internet, these issues can be safely handled. You can convert your files to flv format in a number of ways with the help of the following tools.

Online Conversion Tools:

1. ZamZar.com
2. HeyWatch.com
3. Media Converter

Free Software:

1. Riva FLV Encoder
2. Ultra Video Flash Converter
   

Premium Software:

1. On2Flix
   

Hosting The Video: Hosting the flv file is another issue since AdBrite InVideo does not presently offer file hosting. So you can host the file in your own server or find a file hosting site for the purpose. One good option is to use Blip.tv, which takes care of both the needs of file conversion and hosting and all that for free. You need to register with the site and upload your videos and it will automatically convert the file into flv format and provide you with the url. Just copy the url and paste in the AdBrite InVideo interface and you are ready to go.

Customizing The Video: After the video url is pasted in the AdBrite InVideo interface, you can customize your player in various ways like provide a title, category and description for your video. Then, you can add a set of keywords to best describe your content in order to allow targeted, contextual advertisements to find their way to your content. You can also choose to opt out of advertising by clicking on a checkbox if you wish, under such circumstance no ads will be displayed in your player. You can choose to allow or disallow autoplay, embed feature that helps the videos to go viral, add watermark logo for branding and also provide a linkback to your site.

Publishing Your Video: Once the customization part is taken care of, you can proceed to publish the video. You can select the video dimension and you will be provided with a code. Just copy the code and paste it inside your webpage where you want the video to appear and presto, you are done!

Pricing: AdBrite InVideo pays on a CPC (Cost Per Click) basis. When an user will click on the ads displayed in the video player, the publisher will earn money.

The Positives: Unique concept, payment through viral videos i.e. even if the videos are embedded in someone else's site you can get paid, easy customization option.

The Negatives: Only flv format supported, no hosting provided, the script contains jaascript and hence might not be allowed for embedding in third party sites like blogger.com

Before I start off with the analysis and review, I guess it's better to pen down a few words that we are surely going to come across most of the time. They are the various ad formats. This would be a list of the most common ones, though not exhaustive, as many ad networks are likely to have their own innovative and unique formats. As and when I come across the new ones, I'll try to update this list.

Glossary :

1. Banner Ads: Horizontal, rectangular ads typically displayed at the top or bottom of a web page. In our case it is more likely to be seen above or below an embedded video and even inside the player.
2. In-Stream Advertisements: These are advertisements running within a video content. They can come before the main video begins, in the middle of the main video cutting it in two halves as commonly seen in Television or after the main video has ended. These in-stream ads are mostly 15 to 30 seconds in length.
3. Pre-Roll Ads: These are in-stream ads shown within a video content before the main content starts to play. Only after the ads finish, the main video will start playing.
4. Mid-Roll Ads: These are in-stream ads that come in between the main video content. The main video will play half-way or till a certain time when the ads will start showing up. After the ads finish the remaining part of the main video will continue. It's more like Television commercials that come up in between shows.
5. Post-Roll Ads: These are again in-stream ads which come up after the main video content has finished playing.
6. Overlay / Flash Overlay: These are ads shown in the bottom 1/3rd of the main video content. They can be text ads, static banner ads, animated banner ads or even flash animations. When clicked these ads can perform various activites like direct to a website, pause the main video and create a curtain asking for some engagement by the viewer, launch a floater etc.
7. Product / Brand Integration: These are videos that include identifiable products or logos embedded into a video's content, e.g. a character in the video is holding a branded can of beer.
8. Video Ads: Video ads are blocks of advertisements shown in the form of a video.

That would all for now, but once I start with the reviews, this list is surely going to be a long one. So keep an eye on it.

Have video? Earn money! Here's a list of some of the best sites that could help you monetize your videos. I'll be updating the list as and when I get new sites, so keep coming back!

1. AdBrite InVideo
2. InSkin Media
3. YuMe
4. BrightCove
5. Video Egg
6. ScanScout
7. Broadband Enterprises
8. ROO (Kit-Digital)
9. BrightRoll
10. DoubleClick
11. Tremor Media
12. EyeWonder
13. ValueClick Media
14. LiveRail
15. AOL's Online Advertsing Network
16. Clip Syndicate
17. Adap-Tv
18. AdoTube
19. AdJustables
20. Google Adsense for Videos

We have already seen that even Google is coming up with plans for monetizing videos in Youtube. This fact, along with the stats provided by eMarketers.com projection report, we can surely say the online videos and advertisement networks are definitely a lethal pair when it comes to online money making. But before anybody with an online video website can rejoice or those without one starts planning, they should have a clear knowledge of how to go about this online video advertisement buzz. Who has the best network? What are the ad formats? How can they be implemented on a website? What are the requirements? These are just a few million dollar questions and having the right answer to each of them would lead to acquiring the billion dollar videos of tomorrow. I have listed some of the top online video advertisement networks for analysis and I will be providing a personal view of each one of them in them in the posts to come. Hope that would help me as well as all of you who are interested in riding the tide to understand the way it works, or figure out a way to get it work.

The ones I'll be covering soon are Adbrite InVideo, BrightRoll, Video Egg, AOL's Online Advertsing Network, ROO (Kit-Digital), Clip Syndicate, BrightCove, Broadband Enterprises, ValueClick Media, Adap-Tv, ScanScout, LiveRail, AdJustables, YuMe, DoubleClick, EyeWonder, AdoTube, Tremor Media, InSkin Media and of course Google Adsense for Videos. These are just some of the key players in the market and if you find out some more, simply let me know and I'll add them to the list for review.

Google is not sure how they can make money from Youtube.com, one of their most popular and expensive acquisition. Eric Schmidt, chief executive of the search giant said that it "seemed obvious" that Google would generate "sufficient amount of money" from Youtube, but they haven't figured out a way yet. In an interview with The New Yorker he further added that Youtube had the potential of creating a whole new industry based on the facts that they knows people are watching it and they have the luxury of time to invest. According to him, Google's aim was to change the world and the company did not "start from monetization".

According to a small research made by Digital Ethnography, total videos loaded as of March 17th 2008 is 78.3 million and videos uploaded per day is over 150,000. And we already know Youtube reaches almost 129 million people every month.

So that's power of online videos in the present day market and with Google still figuring out a way to go about it, monetization of videos is definitely on the making. The day is not far when online videos can make billions of dollars.

Hello and welcome to my first blog - Billion Dollar Videos. I have been "web crazy" for almost five years now and over this period of time, I have often been amazed by the pace at which the World Wide Web has evolved. Thank God spiders don't evolve so fast or this whole planet would have really lived the nightmare of the "eight legged freaks". After going through peaks of highs and lows, the internet in present times have stabilized it seems, not only with many more sustainable and profitable business models developing but also with the remarkable difference it has brought about when it comes to entertainment.

Online videos sites are probably everywhere on the net now, and most of them are able to draw a decent traffic and gather a following. It's the age of viral marketing and what could be better than the entertaining and often educative videos that have the power to attract and hold visitors for quite some time. And they travel fast. Well maybe these attributes have led them to be one of the fastest growing money making device on the internet. It can be arguably safe to predict now that online videos can earn billion dollars.

Don't agree with me? Well at least a few surveys and reports point to that. eMarketer.com reports

In 2011, nearly one in every ten dollars spent for advertising on the Internet will be for video advertising. As advertisers continue to shift budgets from television advertising, video ads will become a driving force in overall Internet ad spending gains.

What? But how? Oh yeah...here's a stats to support that...

More arguements? Shoot me some comments so that we can discuss and maybe something more will come out of it. Or start running a video site...maybe you would become a billionaire too.

So much for the day...