We spend so much time focusing on the TV-like branding impact of video that it is easy to forget that streaming media can also take some of its cues from the infomercial - direct sales. According to its quarterly survey of video presence at major online retailers, e-commerce video provider SundaySky video is becoming an increasingly important part of the sales process at many sites. The number of retailers in its survey using 1,000 or more clips at their sites has increased 50%, now comprising 32% of retailers, up from 22% the previous quarter. Leading the way is Overstock.com, which …

As longer form video viewing online becomes de rigeur, an ever increasing share of advertising is moving beyond the classic pre-roll format. According to video infrastructure provider Freewheel's latest "Video Monetization Report" for Q1 2011, the mid-roll ad format defied the usual Q1 seasonal ad slump and grew in volume 30% over Q4 2010. Freewheel attributes the growth to expansion of longer content as well as an increase in ad loads for video. Pre-roll volumes declined from Q4 2010, following typical post-holiday trends, but the march of the mid-rolls continues.

If Madonna was the star made by and for MTV and the rise of 80s music video, then surely Lady Gaga is the unofficial queen of the Web video era - thank God. While Avril Lavigne and Rihanna are also among the most viewed female artists online, Gaga's video releases are genuine digital events. And unlike Madonna, she is eminently more likable, hands down a better singer, and only more watchable as she gets stranger. This Lady was made for the Web.

As a male of certain demographic construct who watches too much sports on TV, I find myself at the mercy of domestic brewers with gargantuan media budgets. Maybe the beer-ad barrage wouldn't be so jarring if I didn't consistently tend to my needs prior to the opening tip/first pitch/delivery of the first stone. My new favorite beermaker is Colorado's Breckenridge Brewery, even though I've never tasted a sip of their wares.

Given Fiat's minimal presence in North America over the last decade or three, there's a strong case to be made for reintroducing the brand with pomp and pageantry. You know, with a look back at the automaker's European lineage, a photo overview of its cool double-wheelie models and a sober acknowledgement of the changes made since its disastermobiles vexed owner and mechanic alike back in the 1980s. There is an information gap to be filled and plenty of information with which to fill it. Alternately, you could hire a hip commercial factory to position the brand as a must-have accessory …

At least once a week, I receive dispatches from "readers" who gently nudge me towards certain content. This week's "awesome" clip featured Tampa Bay Rays third baseman/most underpaid man in baseball Evan Longoria saving a helpless reportrix from a batting-practice line drive. The execution is impressive; the average user watching the clip on a phone or tablet won't think it's staged. Of course, it is.

Someone stop David Lynch before he makes another ad. I say that as a fan. It just so happens I am working my way through "Twin Peaks" on Netflix and just re-viewed "Blue Velvet," so I am inoculated. Even so, the crown prince of surreal weirdness is just creeping me out now by advertising his own brand of David Lynch Signature Cup Coffee.

Almost a month after taking down its own gaming and entertainment network to deal with a security breach, Sony Online Entertainment and the Playstation Network announced over the weekend that after an earlier false start, services were being restored.

While many Web publishers keep looking for that one Webisode hit, Univision has been building a nice little trove of regular digital video content at NovelasySeries.com. Generally the site aggregates updates and clips, blogs and interactive material for the many soap operas and other dramatic series on the network. But it is also becoming a place where viewers get to see digital-only fare. In one of the more ambitious projects to date, Univision will launch on Monday the comedy series "No Me Hallo" (Finding Myself) across both the Web and mobile apps.

Have you thought about the cost of that delivered pizza? No, really? There is the cost of the pie itself. Ka-ching. Then there is that tip. Ka-ching. And then there is...well, there is that tip. Targeting the massive fraud surrounding the real price of ordering a pizza, Red Baron Pan Pizza launched a series of video exposés yesterday on Facebook starring "Deal or No Deal" star and comedian Howie Mandel. With video cameras apparently planted everywhere, Mandel appear to invade a series of everyday American families to demonstrate the superiority of baking your own pizza instead of ordering.