• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 7, 2008

Video advertising company Jivox has begun developing an online platform that bundles downloadable coupons, SMS messages, reminder alerts, click-to-call services and more in one clickable online ad, according to company CEO Diaz Nesamoney.

The platform aims to "harness the power of the Web" by redefining "consumer engagement" with online video ads. That means changing the idea that consumers should have one-way brief interactions with ads that visually shout "I'm a great product, look at me," to one that allows Web surfers to spend more time interacting with the brand.

"There are unlimited interactions we can enable that allow advertisers to measure consumer engagement," said Nesamoney, who has co-founded numerous business intelligence and Web analytics companies.

Consumers who look at an online ad for a vacation home in Tahoe would click on a pop-up icon providing a list of interactive options such as "click to see a tour" or "send me information via SMS," for example. The brand would determine the ad features from a list Jivox provides, but the person viewing the online advertisement would initiate the action.

The service could give smaller companies much-needed tools to interact with consumers, something they may not have been able to afford in the past, said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst. "Sometimes pioneers have arrows in their back," Hallerman said. "Companies offering online video advertising are still getting established. They may have a good idea, but today most of the dollars are spent by advertisers just trying to do the basics."

Details about the next tech project designed in Flash surfaced on Monday, after the company announced the first major upgrade since March to Jivox AdSlate 3.0, the latest version of its online video ad platform. It combines a self-service video ad-creation tool, proprietary targeting technology, reporting capabilities and an extensive network of premium local publishers to offer advertisers a complete service for local online video advertising.

Jivox wants to make online video ads more affordable for small and-medium size businesses like retail stores, law firms, outpatient health-care surgery centers, gardeners or bed-and-breakfasts that want to advertise. It introduces a feature similar to those relied on by production companies creating TV commercials where multiple text and graphic video overlays appear through the duration of the clip.

The technology should lower barriers such as the cost to produce an online video ad that Nesamoney estimates between $1,000 and $5,000. "Smaller companies will only buy $1,500 in media, so they can't go to one of our publisher partners like examiner.com or acuweather.com and buy media," Nesamoney said. "Even if they are willing to pay the price, they can't transact such small buys."

Advertisers also can now place ads on Google Maps and YellowPages.com, GetFave and other local search directories. Also an option: uploading the ads onto YouTube to create a viral campaign, or making them available on their own Web site as part of the Jivox Publisher Network.