• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 15, 2007

Still intent on building its Web TV syndication platform for publishers, Maven Networks is getting into the ad-serving platform business, too.

"The syndication business has been very successful, but our partners were expressing interest in better ad-serving platforms," said Hilmi Ozguc, Maven Networks CEO.

Testing out the service is a list of top agencies and publishers--Fox News, Scripps, Ogilvy and Digitas--although none has yet signed contracts to take the service beyond its beta.

Maven is promising to increase any publisher's video ad inventory and revenue with new ad formats, inventory management tools, and what it claims to be an unprecedented intelligent ad insertion engine, which uses historical behavioral data to stream ads at the height of a user's receptivity.

"We can also ensure that available ad inventory is sold and delivered because of our forecasting capabilities," said Todd Boes, vice president of product management for Maven.

The patent-pending dynamic ad insertion engine is supposed to automatically determine "optimal ad viewing points" within a video clip based upon historical usage analytics--such as user viewing behavior and video popularity--along with associated metadata like video length and topic.

Like VideoEgg, Brightcove and other Web video companies, Maven has invested in pre-roll alternatives such as transparent and interactive overlays to drive revenue for publishers.

Unlike VideoEgg and Brightcove, however, Maven is not (presently) pursuing its own publishing network, using the mark of technology provider to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

"We're not getting into the ad sales business," Ozguc assures. "We're purely a technology provider."

What does Ozguc make of Google's recent entry into the video ad distribution game (just this week offering AdSense partner sites the option to carry select YouTube content)?

"Welcome to the party," said Ozguc. "We're not worried about Google because many of our partners are Google rivals."

Separately, Maven has established a forum for industry leaders to convene over video ad standards, formats, and pricing models. The Internet TV Advertising Forum includes many of the same publishers and agencies testing Maven's new ad-serving technology, including Fox News, Scripps, Ogilvy and Digitas.

A number of publishers presently use Maven's Internet TV Platform to distribute Web video across the Web, including Hearst Magazines, Univision Online, CBS's College Sports Television, The Weather Channel, The Financial Times, TV Guide, and 20th Century Fox.

Maven's system is seen as an alternative for media companies and content owners that would normally rely on intermediaries such as Web portals to syndicate their video content online.

Maven previously offered publishing partners limited ad-serving options, including interstitial and pre-roll video ads.