Commentary

UGC Video Update - How It Will Be Safe For Advertisers

Every week it seems that people ask the question of whether and when it will be "safe" or "appropriate" for advertisers to be aligned with content in the user-generated space (primarily user-generated video)--and the answer is surprisingly easy.

It indeed will be safe, and it will be appropriate, and it will come very quickly--probably in the next 3-6 months.

If you take a look at recent history, there are many precedents for the model of aligning content and advertising in a safe or appropriate manner. When cable first emerged, there were likely concerns because some of the content that would be offered was "racy" or inappropriate for some kinds of brands, but methodologies were developed that ensured that the content would be monitored.

When the Internet emerged as a medium for advertising, there were issues surrounding shepherding a brand in this environment as well. Most ad networks had a portion of their landscapes that were adult or adult-oriented content, and many advertisers were wary of placing their messaging in this environment until there were tools for monitoring and ensuring that the orientation of the content was not in opposition to the messaging of their brands.

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Now we see UGC emerging as a very viable ad medium, and once again advertisers are concerned that their brands are potentially aligned with content that would be deemed inappropriate--but the precedent has been set, and there's no way we'd let this environment be un-moderated in some manner.

There are three primary ways in which I've heard of companies developing tools to ensure the safety of advertisers in this space. The first methodology is based on peer review. In this model, a set of meta-data for the content--primarily video content--can be created based on the reviews or any set of review information posted and maintained by the viewer. It relies on the engagement of the audience, but has proven successful for other sites, especially those that are in the form of the Wikipedia. This model requires ongoing maintenance by the audience, which can be viewed as a pro or a con--but is certainly useful, because as the environment changes the meta-data can be updated to reflect audience tolerance.

The second model I've come across is when a technology catalogues the content on the page surrounding the UGC and hypothesizes that the content of the video is related to the content surrounding it. This model would seem to be relatively easy to build, and its logic is clear, but the problem is that it needs to cross-reference the data for the multiple of pages where the content is located and then merge the data to ensure proper classification. This process is extremely important when cataloguing for search. This model would appear to be sound, even if it requires that a fairly robust database be maintained to ensure its effectiveness.

The third model I've heard about is similar to the second, but rather than the content surrounding the video being catalogued, it's the pages linking to the video. This seems to be most applicable to YouTube and the other sites where other viewers consistently link to the video content from other sites, but do not host the videos themselves. This model also appears to be the most scalable--although once again it requires that the spiders be in place on a consistent basis to ensure that the content is updated regularly.

Whether it is one of these three models or some other model that emerges, it's inevitable that we will have a solution for satisfying the needs of the advertisers to shepherd their brands in this ever-expanding environment.

Have you heard of any other models for this? Please share!

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