• by Kate Kaye , March 16, 2004

The online video ad space just got a bit more crowded---sort of. Streaming video technology firm Eyewonder, Inc. has rounded out its player-less streaming video ad offerings with new formats and a host of interactive features. The expansion indicates a broader commitment to Web video among advertisers and agencies, and represents a competitive shift in strategy for Eyewonder.

"Up until six months ago we didn't feel the market for online video advertising was ready to handle and proactively support all these different features and formats," explains Mike Griffin, executive-VP sales and marketing at Eyewonder. The company made its decision to expand its format menu after gauging advertiser client interest, which has grown gradually.

Until now, says Griffin, advertisers "have been walking before they run" when it comes to experimenting with streaming video. "They've walked a long way," he concludes.

Banner ads, multilayer ads, expandable ads, floating ads, pop-up ads, and pop-out ads are among the latest additions to Eyewonder's format lineup. In the past, Eyewonder's streaming technology has enabled audio and video mainly within standard in-page units. Eyewonder has also developed a custom format that plays video directly within the latest version of America Online's Instant Messenger client, AIM. Eyewonder's technology deploys video automatically with no need for a player or plug-in, and detects user bandwidth to optimize the viewing experience.

And there is another significant switch for the company. Eyewonder's official relationships as streaming video partner with ad tech providers Eyeblaster and PointRoll are kaput now that Eyewonder is offering competing formats, according to Griffin. However, he emphasizes that a future pairing of Eyewonder video with Eyeblaster or PointRoll formats is not ruled out.

Like its streaming video competitor, Klipmart, which offers similar ad formats, Eyewonder hopes to guide advertisers away from simply streaming its television ads online, toward integrating interactive capabilities to take full advantage of what the Web has to offer. In conjunction with its new formats, Eyewonder has unveiled features that can be mixed and matched, including video zoom, a zip code locator, email collection, file downloads, video replay, slide shows, and frequency capping, as well as polling with real-time results. In addition, the dynamic data feature links ads directly to databases, to enable access to such things as up-to-the-minute weather reports or real-time stock tickers.

"These features allow the advertiser to create a dialogue with consumers, and allow the user to have more control over the experience to get more information out of the ad unit," adds Griffin.

Ads for Intel's Centrino chip and Motorola that use the new formats are currently running. The Intel ad using Eyewonder's video pop-out format launches a separate window featuring additional video clips, and allows the user to submit an email address for more information. An expandable ad for Motorola that launches a small video window from a skyscraper-style ad unit can be seen currently on ITV, a U.K.-based commercial TV network Web site.

Eyewonder recently made a foray into video content publishing through relationships with online teen community site Bolt.com and health care information provider Choice Media. Both are using the company's technology to deliver video content, as well as selling Eyewonder-enabled in-stream video ads that run within that content. "Using our technology for in-stream ads as well as in-page ads opens up inventory levels for video ads online," suggests Griffin, who believes that in-stream video ads could help bring about the promise of attracting TV-like ad budgets to the Web.