• CNet, Thursday, June 4, 2009 9:32 AM

Former Vice President Al Gore, who co-founded Current Media, thinks it's time for old views of advertising to die. Current is an experimental cable news channel that relies heavily on user-created content for both editorial and ads.

More than half of Current's ads are selected, viewer-created videos about the brands that have signed up. The winner is paid by the advertiser, and receives an additional payment if the advertiser wants to use the video outside of Current. In either case, it costs marketers significantly less than the production budget of a traditional TV ad. Gore believes that the digital age has made it possible for quality, user-oriented ads to be ubiquitous. He points to how the Obama campaign made efficient use of inexpensive marketing and publicity tools on the Web.

No everyone agrees, including sponsors that don't get aspiring filmmakers and networks that depend on older audiences, which don't want to make videos for a contest. For its part, Current has yet to become a significant media player. The company canceled its scheduled IPO earlier this year, citing the bleak economic climate.

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