There's a great tradition in the city of Boston, where soon-to-be-brides battle each other for the wedding dress of their dreams at Filene's Basement's annual Running of the Brides. With more than 3,000 gowns available at a fraction of the cost, there are many engaged woman who clamor to take advantage of the tradition.The challenge is that while there are thousands of dresses, they're not all desirable, the right fit, within the shopper's price range, or worth being trampled over. Video ad exchanges are similar in this regard.

In a world where there are an incredible number of potential content opportunities, marketers have limited means to actually discover and evaluate them. In fact, among the content industry, it's all the rage to name your favorite "over-looked" Web series that a brand should be sponsoring. So why aren't we seeing more marketers make the smart move into original Web series? What's holding them back?

First, a confession. I am not an insider. As a journalist who covers media, my job is to remain as objective as possible. So please consider this and any future "insider" columns I may write in that context, because it is my job to be a little on the outside looking in. So let me tell you a few things I've observed since I began covering the video industry 30-odd years ago. Well, for one thing, we didn't call it the video industry back then, and I think a lot of the trouble we have defining this industry is the …

This is for you, an entrepreneur raising money to start the next startup, maybe in the video space, one of the fastest markets these days on the web. At times, VCs give me a call to look at companies, and I'm fortunate to be working with some amazing entrepreneurs about their product, and funding process, so I thought I would write about this.

Online video viewership is reaching new highs each month, presenting a perfect opportunity for media buyers to tap into the massive video audience. New research from Nielsen revealed that during April 2011, Americans streamed 14.7 billion videos, a record for the most streams in a month. In addition, non-premium video site YouTube's usage was at an all-time high in April 2011, with viewers watching 8.7 billion streams, up seven percent from the previous month. Yet most advertisers are still only comfortable buying the 10% of premium online ads that offer comprehensive data about their content.

Video ad campaigns delivered online give advertisers the ability to understand who is watching, how much of it they are watching, and how different creative and format types are impacting viewer engagement. These actionable insights provide brands the opportunity to get an immediate and accurate snapshot of campaign performance, and develop more effective creative based on viewer behavior and needs.

All businesses strive to be scalable, but many that appear scalable turn out to be anything but -- and vice versa. Nowadays, thanks to cheap hardware, open source software and social media marketing, technology companies can be launched with a fraction of the investment once required. Content companies, however, still require material investment to scale. In video, the only things that most content entrepreneurs have to show for, other than bruised egos, are shattered dreams and wasted millions. This article certainly isn't about kicking anyone when they're down, but recognizing that production, distribution and monetization scale differently -- which will …

New media trends last about a day and a half in the digital marketing business. And now it is online video's time to bask in the limelight like a shiny new coin, vying for media buyers' attention and dollars. It has moved within a year from the hot media with great CPMs for publishers and high engagement for advertisers to a rapidly maturing channel that lives in the same neighborhood as mobile and search, or at least the adjacent zip code, with mobile and tablets subletting nearby.

Attention, media buyers: If you are evaluating online video with TV metrics like GRP and TRP, please be aware of what you are actually buying. If you go bargain basement shopping for the lowest video CPMs hoping to maximize your reach and frequency at the lowest cost, you are going to come up short on realized ROI.

It's official. Here's my favorite headline of the 2010-2011 TV season: "The Killing: Worst Season Finale in the History of the Universe?" That gem was the header of Portland Mercury's editor in-chief Wm. Steven Humphrey's recent blog post.