• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, August 25, 2010

OneScreen is making plans to add behavioral targeting on top of video context. When and what consumers watch will become data, reused for targeting, according to Atul Patel, the company's CEO.

"We're hammering out the policies such as who owns the data, who had rights to the data, and how much is that data worth," Patel says. "Today, we don't collect the data, but the technology is available. Our goal is not to misuse the data."

As brands and advertiser begin to look toward OneScreen for a direct source of video and data inventory, Patel wants to work to append the data through providers like BlueKai, Lotame and eXelate, along with ad networks Tremor Media, ScanScout and TidalTV.

Publishers are challenged to find quality video content. So, display ad networks are slowly becoming video ad networks, as they begin to sell video content into the channel, according to Patel. OneScreen has partnered with a few ad networks to provide content to their publisher.

Similar to Facebook's social graph, OneScreen conceptualized the theory of "media graph," which maps out who watches what, when and where, and the best ads to serve up at a specific time based on previous consumer behavior.

Like other companies in the space, OneScreen will charge for content based on CPM, but will change an extra fee once the company ads data targeting to content and context.

Aside from tracking length of time watched, clicked on, paused and played, OneScreen will add the advertising metrics to a list of behavioral targeting data, similar to a deal cut between BrightRoll and retargeting firm Magnetics. For example, when someone watches celebrity gossip online, whether a married female age 50 looking at retirement options, or age 18 just about to enter college, adding the data to the programming combines targeting and context, according to Atul Patel, the company's CEO.

But are video views plentiful enough to make a difference in BT? On the Internet, consumers tend to think more favorably about a brand after watching a video ad, compared with a TV commercial for the same brand. While television offers more powerful reach, online video often delivers higher impact per viewer, according to comScore, which suggests 43% of viewers stop the video in mid-program to visit a brand's Web site.

As it turns out, 31% of consumers think more favorably about the advertised brand after watching an online video ad, compared with 19% on TV, according to comScore. The research released earlier this year also suggests 30% think online video ads are more memorable and relevant, lower than the percentage for television.

OneScreen, which provides on-demand software, continues to build a three-way exchange that connects video content owners with publishers looking to use video to engage audiences and increase revenue, and advertisers looking to target audiences. Patel calls it a new twist on content syndication and video monetization. Thousands of publishers don't have video today. And most publishers embed YouTube tags that generate zero revenue.