• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 18, 2006

Advertising firm Eyeblaster today will begin marketing a simplified platform for the creation and execution of video advertising online. Shooting for ease of use without sacrificing ad quality, Eyeblaster's new "Video Studio" allows for auto-encoding of digitized files into multiple video formats, while supporting the newest video formats, including WMV and FLV8 along with the FLV7 player format.

The offering automatically detects bandwidth settings of individual computers and delivers the appropriate video file to ensure fluid video streams. In addition, Video Studio enables the use of file sizes up to 4.4mbs--and, in an effort to eliminate approval hurdles, automatically selects from a range of streaming methods based on publishers' specifications.

"The creation and execution process which used to take three days can be performed in minutes using the Video Studio," said Doug McFarland, Eyeblaster managing director, North America.

Having executed over 4,000 video ads in the first quarter, Eyeblaster is seeking to establish itself as a leader in the space. McFarland said the company is investing tens of millions of dollars to expand into other areas like search bid-management and in-game advertising later this year.

"I hate the overused term 'one-stop shop,' but that's what we're becoming," McFarland added.

Beyond the launch of Video Studio, Eyeblaster announced enhancements to its platform, including Flash 8 support and enhanced trafficking with Excel, so media planners can automatically upload media plans created in MS Excel directly into the Eyeblaster platform, as well as Macintosh support.