White Paper Wednesdays: VIdeo TIme Projections

A great report from the whizzes at SRG abou the expected changes in video usage -- in toto and by platform. Find it here.



Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

The Importance of Buying Quality in Video

This piece ran in iMedia a couple weeks ago. I thought I'd post it here in case you missed it.

-----

There used to be two kinds of traditional agencies. One kind believed that placements in highly rated shows worked better on a dollar-for-dollar basis than ads placed in low-rated shows. The second group believed that "a GRP is a GRP" and, therefore, one should buy the cheapest GRPs in a daypart.

The corollary was that half the world paid premium CPMs for top 10 shows and the other half didn't. I confess to have always been a proponent of the second view. In my opinion, a person watching "Jake and the Fat Man" reruns can be just as passionate about his TV choice as a viewer of a hot show.

But online video is a different world entirely. In my view, there are four tiers of video content quality:

* Broadcast quality and content
* Professionally produced and screened content
* Pro-am and positive UGC
* Rants and negative UGC

Because the range of online video content is so large in terms of quality, subject matter and production values, brands need to take extra care that the environments and content they support meet their minimum standards of acceptability.

Nearly everyone agrees on that. But this view takes a purely negative perspective on the issue. It's essentially saying, "We don't want to be anywhere awful." Fine for as far as it goes, but should we view video content beyond of a binary prism of acceptable and unacceptable? Can great online content actually increase the impact of our advertising and, in and of itself, drive improved brand perceptions simply by dint of our being in it?

Sadly, there is precious little hard research on the subject. My online searches for studies uncovered exactly none.

In the absence of research, we all need to make decisions on where to run ads and how much to pay for one type of content over another. As a starting point on how to do this correctly, here are five reasons why paying a modest premium for high-quality video content may well be worth it as a means to deliver valuable brand benefits through your online ad program.

1. Content quality is something brands can still control. In a world where "the consumer is in charge," brands need all the edge they can get to create appealing images. Although I suspect the impact of content quality on brand perceptions is only moderate, moderate is far better than nothing.

2. The industry is getting better on contextual targeting in premium video content. Context can certainly deliver positive benefits in terms of pre-screening eyeballs and ensuring greater attention to relevant messages. It is now getting easier to buy by context, whether overtly or through site selection. That's on high-end content. But as for the cheap stuff? Nobody knows what's in most of it. Automatic brand protection screening systems can usually keep us out of prurient vids, but to my knowledge they can't contextually target yet.

3. Premium content is largely positive. I am a huge believer that the tonality of content affects brand impressions. When people feel good, they'll feel better about the brands they find in what made them feel good. And premium, professionally produced content is much more likely to be upbeat and positive than lower-tier content, which is loaded with questionable UGC and rants.

4. Premium content is often "destination" media, low quality content is often a "time killer." Although I have no empirical evidence with which to prove this theory, I am convinced that much low-quality content is low involvement -- something to view when there is nothing else to do. There are, of course, exceptions... highly viral content like the vids of Britney defender Chris Crocker certainly attract engaged eyeballs. But for the most part, I suspect that such engagement is unusual.

5. Viewers understand the need for ads on premium content, but may be less accepting on lower-quality content. Most research shows that consumers are willing to accept pre-roll and other forms of advertising when paired with high-quality video content. Something has to pay for these productions; consumers understand that. But for lower-tier vids, which are frequently short or have low production values, the value proposition may be less apparent to consumers. I imagine that, to viewers, YouTube running the skateboarding dog clip seems essentially free to all parties -- that no ad is necessary to show this content. Few would question pre-roll on a "Desperate Housewives" episode; many might on a video of a skateboarding dog.

On the issue of quality, UGC is a bit of a googly at the moment. Certainly there is great, contextually targeted UGC that could be quite brand enhancing. I'm thinking, for example, of some of the "how to get this look" videos on YouTube, or the UGC Burger King raps. Why wouldn't Cover Girl and the King want to be right there in places like that?

But advertisers remain less willing to support UGC -- not because of what it is, but rather because of what it might be. Certainly the automated porn detector technologies out there help make UGC environments safer, as will video and auto-recognition technologies. So that's good news for the future.

The other challenge, of course, is that there is a lot more lower-tier inventory out there than premium stuff. So brands need to be prudent about the sorts of premiums they are willing to pay to be associated with the best content.

Ved.io Goes Beta: Breaking the Video Screen Barrier

I want ot take a few minutes to tell you about Ved.io, a new video sharing service that lets users pair a variety of content forms with video, launched I could take four paragraphs trying to explain this in digispeak, but let's try a picture and a single sentence:

Ved.io pairs a video with your choice of content in a real time tandem ad that runs next to the video. Click to enlarge:



Now, perhaps if you know a little about the video ad biz, you'll be surprised that a start-up is using the concept of a tandem ad as its core differentiator. After all, in the ad biz, tandem ads are pretty much on the way out.

But let's dig a little deeper. The whole reason why tandem ads were created in the first place was to provide a both a place for more advertiser info to live, more persistently, and to give users a place to click. That was before the vid screens themselves were clickable.

In the context of UGC, or in a larger sense, annotation, the tandem content area lets people add additional info or react to what's being said in the video in real time. That's an awesome concept. It lets the viewer see the vid while also consuming additional information simultaneously. It's the ultimate in multitasking media.

So what can go in that square? Well, quotes, text, pictures, or even a link. That's the rudiments of it. But what it MEANS is that you get to add documentation, editorial, supporting imagery, or any other form of content that can aid in the experience.

Here's an example from the footage of the debate last Friday, when McCain and Obama were asked what are the lessons of Iraq (click to enlarge):



On this case, the content on the right can help voters or even journalists better interpret the answers to this important event.

Now, on the other hand, one could also put a picture of Homer Simpson "D'oh" photo the next time that...to take a purely hypothetical example, a VP candidate makes a gaffe.

I really do like the idea of this. Head on over and check it out for yourself!

The beta offering is free - premium services are on the way.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

ChosenList: For Craigslist Users Who Are Ready For Their Closeup

If there is one thing that Craigslist has proven, it's that utility outranks site attractiveness in the minds and hearts of millions. Craig Newmark's vision of a mostly free online classified site, supported by rather affordable job ads, has transformed the classified business and sent newspapers scrambling willy nilly online trying to figure out a way to pick up the ad slack.

As you know, the site is...no...defines Spartan. Blue links on white. Well organized, eminently useful, but not what you would call a visual feast.

Except that it is. It's just that your feasting on words and offers and products and jobs and all that. Not to mention some of the odd personals of people seeking horizontal dates. ;-)

So ChosenList enters the market with a proven revenue model but with a twist of being focused on video ads. It's that simple, Craigslist, but with the opportunity to make video ads to bring your item (or the item you covet) to life.

Now, those of you with dirty minds need to know -- there are no personals or missed encounters or erotic services available on this site. I know, I checked. ;-) But that probably makes sense if you are a start up trying to offer a set of services to the general pop. Porn and VC money don't mix too well. Though doubtless there are VC porn investments.

Here's how they explain themselves:

ChosenList.com’s mission is to provide a safe online destination for individuals and companies to promote their products and professional services, share videos, look for a new job and socialize with community members that have similar interests.

ChosenList.com capitalizes on the phenomena of YouTube, CraigsList and other popular web sites that allow users to use online technology to list and browse classified ads and upload videos with one very big distinction – ChosenList.com only permits safe, clean content.

Founded in October 2006, ChosenList.com, LLC is a media-rich company connecting buyers and sellers through video classified ads, discounted employment ads and a video-enabled social community. With the “right” mix of business, technology and community visionaries, the company leaders have created an online gathering place that respects the need for a community to access quality content and the ability to interact with quality people. The company headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona.

And here is their 1 minute elevator pitch from Tech Crunch.

I have to believe that the appeal of this will be directly tied to age. If you are under 30, I bet your intrigued. If not, I bet you wouldn't bother. At least not today. Three years from now we may all be a wandering around videoing everything. But right now, videoing is more the province of those born in the 80s and 90s. And perhaps the 2000s. ;-)

Oh anyway, it's certainly intriguing. I have covered several video classifieds and video UGC ad and other video ad start ups, and they all impress me as something the may catch on. The jury is still out. It will be more than interesting to hear their verdict.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Check Out Marc Ostrick's New Blog

Hollywoodizen Marc Ostrick has created a new blog called Notes From An Online Video Junkie that you should really check out. It offers a great perspective on the emerging high quality online video business. What I like about this blog is that it comes from the perspective of a content creator rather than an advertiser.

Original online video has come a long way since Chocolate Rain, and Marc’s blog offers great perspective on the topic.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to write.

Involver: Branded Video Campaigns For Social Media

Social media is hard to market in safely. Blah blah blah. You've heard it a bajillion times, and about 842 times on this blog. But we all know that somehow we have to get our brands there -- people are simply spending too much time there to ignore.

OK, then item number two. There are too damned many of these places! What are there, 60 social nets with >1Million members? Not the recipe for easy peasy.

Involver's not going to get you past all of the googlies of social media, nothing will. But it does offer a strong platform to get a branded video in front of lots of people. Here's their intro vid to give you a taste:

OK, OK, if you are thinking that this sounds like a video widget, I'm with ya. But that's OK. The fundamentals of widgetry are still true -- we need ways to put content out where people are instead of making them come to us.

And what this widget offering has that some others don't is a comprehensive distribution promotion plan. While that is not unique, it does put them miles ahead of widgeters who make it, hand it to you, and walk.

People who display your video get points for their distribution clout -- a sort of social compensation affiliate program that I would imagine could work well. People on soc nets always want to know how they stack up against others.

It's not the only way to get your video distributed, but their reporting and analytics look pretty strong. I think they're worth a look if you are considering a video marketing program online.

Google Video for Enterprise: WIll THIS Be The Ticket to YouTube Monetization

ReadWriteWeb is reporting that Google is adding a video application to its fast growing Google Apps line. The application appears to borrow a great deal from the YouTube platform, which makes a lot of sense and may offer a great way to finally monetize that ginormous purchase.

What's most interesting here to me is that this is clearly aimed at the enterprise market. Google offerings have traditionally offered a good alternative for Mom and Pops and perhaps medium sized businesses, while Redmond continued to have a strong lock on enterprise. But those days may be numbered as this adds important functionality to its already popular apps suite.

So...you might ask, why would an enterprise need video for internal consumption? Well, need is a matter of interpretation, and ReadWriteWeb says this is intended for company presentations, team sharing, and the like.

Is there nothing that Google won't offer?

Perhaps not, but while I think this offering is a good idea, I have to think that at some point Google's priorities will be so broad that the company will lose focus and leadership in some sectors. Companies do not grow and win forever. Witness:

Swift meats was the largest company at the end of the 19th century. It is now a division of a Brazilian meatpacker.

ToysRUs was widely expected to have near monopoly on toys ad inifinitum. Now they struggle against WalMart and Target.

AOL...well you get the picture.

In a world as wild as the web, one cannot stay on top forever.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

New Article on iMediaConnection

I have a new piece on iMedia about buying high quality video. Thanks to iMedia for publishing my thoughts!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

WW Video Ad Revs: Poised to Explode!

According to estimates from Bernstein Research (reported by eMarketer,) online video ad revenues worldwide are poised to grow to almost $10B by 2012. Billion with a B people.



Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Digital Leads The Way on Full Disclosure

While in Chicago on earlier this month I had the misfortune of tuning into the WBBM TV early morning news broadcast. While I had no stopwatch to measure precisely, here’s my estimate of the breakdown in content of the 6AM to 7AM news hour:

6 minutes: news
20 minutes: ads
34 minutes: infomercial for Sonic Burger

The 34 minute bit was an absolutely horrifying whore out of broadcast journalism to support the opening of the first Sonic Burger in the ChicagoLand area. Now, if you are like me you are thinking, well effin la-dee-dah, another burger joint. But WBBM will have none of such cynicism. They had multiple reporters on the scene, an interview with the manager, and a happy talk segment during which one of the anchors endorsed Sonic’s decision to have a tasty 900 calorie burger on its menu because, I’ll paraphrase, WTF, you only live once.

Between each segment of the infomercial there was cinema verite of groups of consumers happily eating burgers. Presumably of the 900 calorie variety. I was interested to note the paucity of heavy people in the film as well – just loads of nice, fit, wholesome Midwestern people. The anchors drank from Sonic cups on the set, talked about how much fun it is to eat in a drive in, how delicious the food is, how it’s great to eat fast food, the unmitigated brand prostitution was relentless.

I am told by a coworker that the hour I saw was not the only portion of the program devoted to Sonic Burger. Rather, they had been at it since about 3AM.

So, clearly one of two things are at work here. Either:

1. WBBM sold their morning news broadcasts to Sonic.
2. WBBM editors need to look in a dictionary or Wikipedia to see what the words news and journalism mean.

I am certain the truth is the former. That, in short, WBBM local news is for sale, which perhaps won’t surprise anyone reading this, but was never disclosed in the hour or so of infomercial I saw.

And it got me to thinking – there are so many people in the offline world that still view digital as the second sister of the TV business. That somehow we are second rate. Well, I simply want to point out the spirit of full disclosure online. That paid search listings are prominently marked “sponsored,” that brand videos are clearly marked as produced by brands, and the like. There is no attempt to put lipstick on the content pig on line. Maybe WBBM TV should learn from we second tierers. And get back to the business of covering news instead of paper fast food hat fashions.

Off my soapbox.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to write.

NBC's Online Olympic Ad Take: <$6MM

According to Mashable and WSJ, NBC's online video take is expected to be <$6MM. The estimate, sourced to eMarketer is widely reported to be rather small given the amount they expect to earn on TV and the $900MM NBC paid for the broadcast and online rights in the US.

But was it a lack of consumer interest, or NBC's choices that drove a smaller than expected take?

Here's what the WSJ said on that topic:

NBC limited its potential for ad revenue in a number of ways, industry analysts say. To provide a measure of exclusivity for its TV advertisers, it chose not to make available live video for some of the Games' highest-profile events. The network failed to distribute its videos widely on other sites, which would have boosted its audience.

Is $6MM actually a small number? All signs point to yes. CBS raked in $23MM for March Madness, according to the same Journal piece.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

CNN Goes Embeddable

Professional content sites naturally have a love hate relationship with embeddable vids. The reach and distribution are great, but the monetization is a bit of a problem because, well, when someone snaps a clip and sticks it on YouTube or wherever, there's no revenue for the content owner.

But embeds are inevitable, and more and more companies are recognizing the inherent value in ad supported embeds. CNN, for example, picked last week to introduce embeddable video on its stories, and it was a marvelous day to do so. Why? Take a look:



Since this was just about the biggest story we were expecting, at least until McCain picks his Veep nominee, it was excellent timing.

CNN could use the ratings help, by which I don't mean the vid views but rather the idea that embeds reinforce their leadership in news and drive people to the site to view more.

The only surprise to me is that there isn't preroll on every airing.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

White Paper Thursdays: 7 Elements of a Viral Video Campaign

An interesting and succinct analysis of what makes a viral idea...viral. Check it out here.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

WHITE PAPER THURSDAYS! DYNAMIC LOGIC PAPERS

Dynamic Logic offers several white papers that I think are worthy of your attention. They are also all available for free. If any of the topics below interest you, click the link and spawn the PDF.

Integrating Online Video Into the Marketing Mix

Seniors Online

The Promise of Online Video

iPhone App Ad Networks: Post 4 Medialets

A key part of the differentiating message of Medialets is that they develop creative experiences that enhance consumer experience rather than offering up ad formats people tolerate to get their free app.
This is what ReadWriteWeb had to say about this aspect of their business:

Medialets is being careful to make sure that their advertisements don't mar the otherwise unique and innovative user experience of the iPhone. While developers don't necessarily need to have their apps approved to work with Meidalets, the company will help them design ads that remain unique and beautiful, too. Medialets provides a supportive developer community and will offer demos and code examples for the developers to use.

What makes this level of creativity and customization possible is their team, which they report has members who have been working with the iPhone OS since its beginnings at NeXT twenty years ago.



That's a long time, indeed.

My inference here is that this custom approach is aimed at the inevitable convergence between content and brands. That this offering can cover much deeper consumer experiences and interactions than just text ads or banners. The benefit of this approach is that they can focus sales efforts on innovator advertisers, who likely have a greater predispostion to try things now. The drawback might be that some advertisers will find the custom idea too much work. This is the classic push me pull you of digital marketing right now -- I want deep, broad reach, and easy.

Fortunately, they are offering a development team that can make the process of developing such apps easy for the agency. That's absolutely essential with this model.

With the deeper kinds of interactions they offer, it's important to have a solid reporting and analytics platform, and their site outlines this in some detail. That'll make agency learning curves shorter, and potentially provide the sort of case studies that can get them real publicity and sales traction.

Deep experience may also broaden the appeal of this ad channel from primarily
geographically sensitive advertisers to more national and global brands with bigger budgets and comprehensive brand goals.

Anyway. What is clear is that Medialets is quite different from other offerings, and that difference may well be relevant for you.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Mobile Video's American Idol Moment

We all know how SMS voting on that first season of Idol got us started texting. Well, apparently NBC's decision to put 2200 hours of video online is paying big dividends for mobile video trial in the US. Check out this excerpt from ARS Technica:

Now that the games have started, NBC says that roughly 494,506 people requested content on their phones on Sunday and 476,062 on Monday—relatively small numbers when compared to the millions that are watching on the TV. The interesting part, though, is that it's the first time that about half of those users have ever tried to access video on their mobile devices. "To some extent, the Olympics are beginning to influence how people use new technology," NBC Universal research president Alan Wurtzel told the Associated Press.

The article later points to this NBC PDF which outlines the incredibly high usage of the online videos...online.

Since this is the first truly webbed Olympics, these figures are pretty damned impressive. Naturally, it helps that the events are occurring NOT at a convenient time for TV viewership, so if you wanna see em you gotta go digital. Making inconvenience into a driver of new media usage is a great idea -- the classic example of that Dilbertism - it's not a defect, it's a FEATURE!

All kidding aside, NBC has clearly got a lot of vision for digitaland using this sort of must-see TV to drive it is a great strategy.



Bravo, peacock!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Will Two Mommies and P&G Change the Face of Video Podcasting Audiences?

P&G is no stranger to video production. CBS's soap lineup is proof of that.

Want proof that P&G was a first mover in TV? Watch this:



BTW: The promo is from 2006 - they are well over 16,000 today.

And Procter is also no stranger to video. Of all the CPG companies, P&G is consistently in front with innovative web sites and advertising programs to reflect the changing media environment.

Well, their latest move is all digital, and it's a great idea.

Basically, they're taking the hottest W 18-49 podcast and taking it to video. MommyCast, a podcast with more than one million regular listeners, is extremely popular with Mothers across the country -- hardly the techy dude you might expect for 'casts.

Their show, a discussion of real world Mommy issues (diaper blowouts, anyone?)presented in an empathetic, "We've been there..." tone, is always entertaining, and this visual presentation promises to be a nice addition to the Two Mommies media empire.

Watch the promo:



Hey, Martha, hey Rachel Ray, it may be time to move ova'. Cuz these Mommies have star power. Oh, and audio only fans, the Mommies assure us that they will still do the audiocast.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Fundamentals of Online Video: Post 1: Introduction

INTRODUCTION

This series of posts is designed to help the marketing generalist develop and execute strategically based marketing programs using web-based video. It is structured around the following questions:

1. What is online video?
2. What are the need to know industry terms in online video?
3. What is the incidence of online video consumption?
4. What are the marketing approaches in online video?
5. What are the targeting options in online video?
6. What about mobile video?

After reading this series of posts, I hope that the marketer will have the foundation necessary to make the right decisions that fully leverage online video for their business goals.

Online video is one of the most profound developments in digital. Its importance is at least as large as the advent of offline TV on media because it truly shakes digital and online at its foundations.

Before video, online was mostly a reading and writing platform. Video – the idea of watching the web versus read it – means that the role of this medium can expand in major ways. Video adds interactive entertainment to a medium that until its arrival was largely focused on news, research, and written communications.

This has added enormously to the amount of time that consumers spend online, to their willingness to cough up more money for broadband, and to their elemental enjoyment of the medium itself. The cultural impacts of these changes are only beginning to become clear.

Video adoption has grown extremely rapidly in the US in that past five or so years, with the result that roughly 80% of online consumers view video. Additionally, tens of millions of consumers have found ways to make “user generated video” (UGV,) and to alter or mash-up video assets to make their own video content. The result is that video plays a central role in the lives of many people. While its adoption was focused in young and up-market segments initially, it is now nearly ubiquitous. The love affair between consumers and video is continuing – indeed growing stronger every month.

As consumer usage of online video has grown, so too has the number of opportunities marketers can leverage to create stronger brand experiences. Among other options, marketers can now choose to:

1. Make their own videos, pay to have others make them, pay for inclusion of brands in videos, or ask users to create brand messages.
2. Advertise before, during, or after content requested by consumers is shown.
3. Advertise on top of a video while it plays, or next to it in “tandem” ads.
4. Select and work with specific publishers, sites, and communities, or employ an ad network to deliver a larger audience and outsource logistical tasks.
5. Track and optimize via site side reporting through third party reporting services like DFA.

With all of these issues and opportunities, it behooves marketers to develop a solid foundation in the space so they can select the ideal marketing instances and opportunities for their brands.

Fundamentals of Online Video: Post 2: Definitions and Terms

WHAT IS ONLINE VIDEO? DIGITAL VIDEO?

We define online video as a visual multimedia experience that occurs online, via a PC connected to the Internet.

We define digital video s a multimedia experience delivered to a PC, phone, or other mobile based Internet access device.

While some would broaden the definition of digital video to include VOD (video on demand) or Interactive TV, for this set of posts I am going to exclude those platforms from the discussion.

ESSENTIAL TERMS TO KNOW

Ad sales rights: This refers to the right of a person or a company to monetize a particular piece of content with advertising. Content owners can sell ads in the content they own themselves or grant selling rights to other kinds of companies, including:

A publisher that airs the content

A rep firm

An ad network working with sites that will air the content

Content owner; Content rights owner: These are the people or companies that own video assets that can be shown online. For example, Procter and Gamble, the company that produces the soap opera Guiding Light, is the content owner and will want to be compensated when the content airs online. Similarly, Disney and Pixar own the content of Cars and Wall-E. Content owners are important in online and digital video because they have the assets that people will want to see online.

Content quality tiers: This term is used to classify video assets into categories of quality. They are used by publishers and advertisers to determine the appropriate ad rates to charge to air messages within a piece of content. While definitions of these four tiers vary, the following offers a starting point on how to think about the relative value of content:

1. Superpremium: Broadcast quality content. Example: an episode of Ugly Betty that runs on ABC.com.


2. Premium: Brand safe content produced for air online. An example would be a webisode produced by AOL.


3. Tonnage: Lower quality content, professionally or semi-professionally produced, often brand safe.


4. UGC: User generated video, which can be brand safe but often isn't, and is not usually adequately indexed to ensure brand safety. The big problem with this segment isn't what it is, it's what it might be.

Overlays: These are banner like ads that run on top of videos as they play. The typical overlay system operates like this: Video starts and a smallish Flash banner appears at screen bottom, inviting the user to click for more info. If she does, the video playing stops and the screen switches over to the ad message. Close the message and you can return to the video you were originally watching. Many view overlays as a more respectful, less intrusive way of delivering messages in video than pre-roll. Indeed, YouTube is counting on that being the case as it struggles to monetize the billions of view a month that it serves.

Player: This refers to the viewing platform that carries the video content. Different sites use different players that also come in a variety of sizes, with the result that there is some complexity in the process of preparing and fielding video content across all these platforms. Fortunately, standards are converging.

Pre-Roll/Mid-Roll/Post-Roll: These are ads that run like commercials within the stream of video that you request. For example, if you click on an ABC news story, in some cases the video you want to see will be preceded by a "pre-roll" ad. If the ad appears in the middle of the news report it is a "mid-roll" ad. If at the end, it is "post-roll."

UGV/UGC: The UG in these acronyms refers to "user generated." UGC is user generated content. UGV is user generated video.

There are lots of other terms in online video -- this is definitely a jargon filled category. But these are some of the most important.

Fundamentals of Online Video: Post 3: Statistics

STATISTICS FOR ONLINE VIDEO CONSUMPTION IN THE US

A May 2008 Comscore press release stated that the number of online video watched now EXCEEDS the number of searches conducted:

Similarly, an emarketer report states that the proportion of online consuemrs that consume online video is now 80%, and will be edging toward 90% by 2012:



A leading research source states that the video usage is virtually evenly split across genders, with 52% of users make and 48% female.

While video consumption, especially heavy video consumption does skew younger and upper income, almost 50% of seniors consumer online video, so this is clearly not just for the kids.

Nielsen shows the following figures for the largest video destinations online.

Data indicate three based tiers of online video consumers, with a small group of total junkies:



Finally, in case you are interested, here are the figures for what people tend to watch online: