As more companies and viewers consume online video, content producers recognize the need for a standard way to get their content to all viewers on many platforms. HTML5 traditionally had limitations with certain use cases, but it's rapidly closing these gaps to become the primary platform for online video distribution.

Last week, AOL bought Adap.tv for $405 million. If the history of online video is any indication, then right now, in management meetings and boardrooms, executives and investors are asking themselves: "What the hell does Adap.tv do -- and how can we change our business to do that?"

As time spent on digital platforms, with a focus on video, begins to surpass time spent on television, what's the best sell-side and buy-side approach? Content, context and audience all carry some value in the assessment of digital video opportunities, but much like measuring television, captive audience is still the most reliable valuation metric.

Video is a no-brainer for companies wishing to drive audience engagement and revenues, be they advertisers, publishers or technology companies. So how can publishers successfully tap into this growing video opportunity?

The number of views for brand-created content on YouTube is growing 73% year over year, which means both that brands are comfortable marketing on the world's biggest site -- but also that competing for share of voice will get harder as YouTube grows more crowded. Already the top 100 brands have staked their claim on YouTube, and on average they're publishing about 78 videos per month. Bear in mind that media companies are producing the bulk of the new videos, however most of the top 100 brands have a strong presence on YouTube, according to a just-released report from Pixability, …

ouTube has 382 millionaires. That is, 382 channels with more than 1 million subscribers. Yes, I know what you're thinking: 1) how many are active, 2) how little revenue each one generates. But hear me out. Last year there were fewer than 100 channels with over 1 million subscribers, but thanks to a 300% growth in subscribers on the site, the number is rising fast.

The Baby Boomers are aging. Their parents are already aged. Those in the sixth and particularly the seventh age are experiencing diminished faculties of sight, sound and touch. They are one of the fastest-growing demographics in the country and they have money -- more money than the 20something living in the basement. However, we still design almost all digital products for the 20something.

The auto sector has long been a bellwether not only for advertising, but for all of media and marketing. According to a new report from local market research firm Borrell Associates, car sales will be up this year, but guess what? Local auto ad spending is down for newspapers, radio, and even the stalwart of TV, but rising for direct mail, online and mobile.

Perhaps the greatest challenge in the ad-supported T/V (Television/video) sector is one of its own making: the runaway proliferation of T/V ad scheduling. Today a linear viewer is asked to behave in a way no sane person would: to sit through 20 minutes of non-program content for 40 minutes of programming. Of course, most viewers don't sit through ads. They avoid them through various readily available technologies like DVRs and fast-forwarding, by going to second screens, or by just leaving the room. Advertisers have cooperated with this flooding of ad clutter, under the illusion that CPMs would be much higher …

Omnicom and Publicis merged to create the largest holding company in advertising, surpassing WPP. Critics would argue this is a disaster waiting to happen.