Commentary

Streaming Through September

Even before this ad-packed week arrived, September was shaping up as a big month for rich and streaming media. Let me count the ways:

The vaunted Mercedes-Benz USA has called upon its trusted agency Critical Mass to launch an elaborate spot to promote its new R-Class luxury vehicle. Exclusively on the automotive research site Edmonds.com, whenever visitors click on one of the many banner ads placed throughout the site, an "avatar" --- or friendly tour guide character --- moseys onto the screen to deliver a tailored sales pitch. The customized messages are based on users' existing site location --- from the new car category page or luxury category page, to the model overview page --- as well as users' on-site behavior. Notably, all information is delivered on the Edmonds site itself, but if an interested buyer is still curious by the end of the avatar's pitch, he or she may go onto the R-Class' microsite at MBUSA.com.

In the active world of streaming media, Verizon just signed a long-term deal with Disney to carry programming from the company's many networks on Verizon's new FiOS broadband video service. Content is coming from ESPN, the Disney Channel, ABC Family and ABC News Now, among other destinations.

Also in the area of content, Viacom's MTV is rumored to be finalizing a deal to acquire the online video storehouse iFilm. It's estimated that Viacom will pay in the range of $50 million -- which isn't that much, really, considering it paid a whopping $160 million to the online children's brand Neopets in April.

And, in a first-of-its-kind move for Geico, the company known for its humorous commercials featuring people bragging about saving money on car insurance launched an interactive campaign that relies on consumer-generated content. With the help of independent agency CDG Solutions, Geico debuted a Web site where amateur filmmakers are invited to send in 15-second conceptual movie trailers featuring the likable Geico Gecko. While the campaign is billed simply as a means to promote consumer interaction with the Geico brand, CDG's CEO, Scott Adams, envisioned several possible uses for the material: "They can run commercials on- or offline with this stuff, piece it together, or let consumers take the interaction a step further and piece the videos together themselves."

Streaming video is so hot, in fact, that Truveo, another search player, has emerged. The company expects to generate revenue from Google's AdSense program, and by licensing its search technology to content publishers. Truveo uses a three-pronged search and indexing process: Its crawler searches the transcript text of a video and the text of Web pages that accompany a video, and also recognizes the visual characteristics of a Web application with video, according to company co-founder and CEO Tim Tuttle.

Speaking of video search, I expect to meet with Blinkx later this week. I haven't heard a peep from those guys ever since the L.A. Times reported that News Corp. might buy them. Should be an interesting meeting.

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