• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, October 5, 2006

Podcast search engine Podzinger will launch a new ad platform today that will serve targeted 10- to 15-second video or audio ads before podcasts played on its site.

By analyzing search data based on factors such as topic and consumer usage, Podzinger aims to offer highly relevant, contextual ad placement for podcast playbacks.

Launched in January, Podzinger allows content providers to make their audio or video files available through its search engine. Podcasters who opt to join Podzinger's new ad network will split ad revenue evenly with the company. Those who don't opt-in won't have ads run ads before their audio or video files.

But the company is betting podcasters will embrace the opportunity to monetize their content. "Our business model is based on an assumption that a growing fraction of the overall set of customers will opt in, and that this percentage will grow over time," said Alex Laats, CEO of Podzinger.

He noted that Podzinger also provides a "white label" audio or video search service for media partners such as Entercom Radio and TwiT.tv, which are also looking to boost ad income from their online content.

"We have the ability to deliver brand messages for advertisers and revenue-sharing for content creators," said Laats. Podzinger's search engine relies on advanced speech recognition technology to transcribe video and audio files into a text-based index. Search results will find the exact point where a search word or term comes up in a podcast.

Laats said the company will now apply its content classification technology and aggregate user data to sell targeted ads. "We know what content is being played the most and the longest" in different topic areas, he said. The company has found that visitors are ten times more likely to stream audio and video files than to download them. Playback ads served by Podzinger will not run on downloaded files.

Podzinger is working initially with online ad networks such as Burst Media, Kanoodle and Tribal Fusion to sell inventory on podcast playbacks.

Video search competitors such as Blinkx.tv, AOL-owned Truveo and Google Video have yet to unveil ad networks similar to Podzinger's for their own content. But competition continues to heat up in video search, with newcomers such as CastTV preparing to launch this fall.