Today, Brightcove announced support for Google AdSense for video, a new contextual advertising product for online video. While Brightcove does not sell advertising, our Internet TV platform has a number of integration points with advertising servers and advertising networks that help our customers monetize video. Our support for AdSense for video will provide an additional and complementary option available to our customers (beyond the direct ad sales they are already doing) to monetize their Internet video distribution.

Internet video continues to grow at an accelerated pace. The Brightcove platform reaches over 130 million unique users per month across hundreds of major brands. It's clear that flexible monetization options are required to maximize the revenue potential of online video advertising.

To take one example, a big challenge that faces online video publishers today is how to monetize remnant inventory. Traffic spikes resulting from weather events or the passing of a celebrity actor can produce a massive influx of additional online video inventory and not enough advertising to fill the extra video streams. With the Brightcove/Google solution, these publishers will be able to opt their remnant inventory into the Google AdSense network and generate ad revenue against these additional video streams - controlling exactly what inventory gets the advertising and retaining 100 percent of their advertising revenue.

Publishers who use Brightcove to program and distribute video will be able to use their own advertising servers to set policies and target Google AdSense ads into the video inventory they specify. These non-disruptive, clickable overlay ads appear in the bottom 20 percent of the video and are targeted based on the content of the video and the context of the webpage where the video is displayed.

We are very excited to introduce Brightcove support for Google AdSense for video as we continue to champion flexible new opportunities for our customers to monetize their Internet video.

Here's a link to our press release.

Google's AdSense for video beta is currently available through Brightcove in a limited closed beta release with select customers. We plan to make the feature generally available to publishers in 2008.

-- Josh Hawkins

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Every year, television networks send members of the Academy of Television Arts and Science piles of DVDs with elaborate packaging in an attempt to get them to nominate and vote for their original programming for Emmy awards. This year, Showtime has teamed with Brightcove to revolutionize the way television networks do Emmy campaigns. Showtime will forgo the high-volume of mailings for a more eco-friendly alternative strategy. Showtime will use Brightcove's soon-to-be-released Internet TV service "Brightcove Show" to stream broadcast-quality, full-screen broadband video of entire seasons of series - such as Weeds, L Word, Dexter - at a secure website available to voting members of the Academy - all available through standard Web browsers and without the need for special software plug-ins.

The campaign marks the first initiative in a broad partnership between the two companies, which includes use of the Brightcove Internet TV platform for the programming and distribution of advertising-supported video content on www.sho.com, the network's official home on the Internet.

Here's a link to the full press release. And here are some stories about the partnership:

The Hollywood Reporter - "Showtime's Emmy Screeners Now Online"
Broadcasting & Cable - "Showtime, Brightcove to Take Emmy Awards Screening Online"
Multichannel News - "Showtime to Stream Emmy Screeners Online"
Variety - "Showtime's Emmy Screenings Online"

-- Josh Hawkins

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We are extremely excited to announce that Gruner + Jahr, Europe's largest magazine publisher, has chosen Brightcove as the Internet TV platform for its many media brands. The corporate-wide deal enables any G+J media business to use Brightcove to publish and distribute advertising-supported Internet video content through their popular websites.

The announcement today marks Brightcove's first major media customer in Germany and entry into mainland Europe, which follows similar corporate-wide deals with magazine publishers in the United States (e.g., Time Inc., Meredith, Hachette Filipacchi Media US, Rodale) and the United Kingdon (e.g., Emap, IPC Media, Hearst's National Magazine Company, Hachette Filipacchi UK). 

Click here for the full press release.

-- Josh Hawkins

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We are very excited to announce that IAC and Brightcove have entered into a corporate-wide partnership enabling any of its businesses to use our Internet TV platform to launch broadband video initiatives. The first three businesses to launch under the partnership include Ticketmaster, Citysearch and 23/6, with others to launch in the coming months.

IAC's network of online properties ranks as the 8th largest in the world (comScore, October 2007) with over 171 million unique monthly users worldwide.

IAC Chairman and CEO, Barry Diller, said of the deal, "Brightcove is in tune with the new content consumers want and has been able to recognize the need for effective video distribution in a world where computer screens are replacing television screens. By making this platform available across IAC we can continue to deepen engagement with our online audiences, expand the reach of our brands, and open powerful new revenue streams through online video advertising across our sites."

Full Press Release

-- Josh Hawkins

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TechCrunch reporter Eric Schonfeld caught up with Jeremy Allaire at the recent Boston MeetUp event. Topics covered in the interview include Brightcove Show, the Hollywood writers strike, ad networks, and recent developments at Brightcove.

-- Josh Hawkins

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Channel 4, one of the four terrestrial broadcasters in the UK, has announced a company-wide agreement with Brightcove to use its market-leading Internet TV platform to distribute and monetize Internet video on its website properties. The first Channel 4 initiative to launch will be an ad-supported Internet video service featuring thousands of clips from current TV programmes, an archive of the best moments from Channel 4's 25 years of broadcasting, and a preview of new programming coming to Channel 4.

Ian McLean, General Manager of Channel 4 New Media said of the deal: "Online video is a great way to extend the televisual experience beyond conventional TV and to showcase the Channel 4 service in a totally new way to more people. Brightcove's online video delivery platform offers users a web-based window into the depth and variety of our full programme offering. Not only is this a positive way to maximise our visibility with a new audience, it also brings us new revenue opportunities through targeted broadband video advertising."

The announcement today comes days after Channel 4 joined forces with BBC and ITV to launch an aggregated video portal destination, code-named Project Kangaroo. Leveraging an aggregated consumer destination, while at the same time tapping Brightcove to strengthen and grow online communities around the Channel 4 brand, is a perfect example of the successful blended distribution strategies we have seen emerge in the Internet TV market over the past year. We expect to see further development of innovative monetization and community strategies based on this model in 2008, which is described in more detail in the Brightcove article, "Internet TV Platforms Come of Age."

We are extremely excited to be working with Channel 4, a broadcast leader that joins Brightcove's growing list of UK customers, including British Sky Broadcasting, Emap, Guardian News & Media, Hachette Filipacchi UK, IPC Media, Sony BMG UK, Telegraph Media Group, and UKTV.

Click here to read the full press release.

-- Josh Hawkins

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Over this past Thanksgiving weekend, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) debuted the "Speechless" Internet video campaign using Brightcove to distribute dozens of PSAs featuring A-list actors such as Sean Penn, Harvey Keitel, Kate Beckinsale, Tina Fey, Tim Robbins, David Schwimmer, Laura Linny, the cast of Ugly Betty, and many more. The campaign launched exclusively on Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily using the Brightcove embeddable video player, and is now widely available on the campaign website SpeechlessWithoutWriters.com, blogs and news websites. The organizers have enabled a number of promotional features to encourage viral distribution through email, cross-linking, and blogging, which have provided a powerful outlet for the WGA to raise awareness about their strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. You can read more about the campaign here: Huffington Post, New York Times, NY Daily News, and Time Magazine.

Bill Jensen, Director of New Media for Village Voice Media, has offered some very nice words about their use of Brightcove for the Speechless campaign:

"When we got word a-list actors and writers wanted to give Nikki Finke and Deadline Hollywood Daily exclusive first looks of their promo videos during the writer's strike, we jumped at the chance. Only problem was, I guess guys like Sean Penn and Holly Hunter are used to looking sharp, so normal players weren't able to cut it. We hooked up with Brightcove, and had crystal clear video up on the site within hours."

-- Josh Hawkins

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Last week, the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) presented the 2007 award for best Rich Internet Application to Brightcove for Aftermix - the online video editor for mashing up videos, music clips and photos. We are thrilled to receive the honor from one of the largest awards competitions in the country for interactive and Web innovations.

The Brightcove Aftermix Beta program has had a great run of exciting campaigns, from pop superstar Avril Lavigne 's video remix contest, to Starz Media's "Mashers of Horror" Halloween promotion, to Warner Music Group's Wedding Mix contest for Big & Rich's hit song, "Lost in the Moment." Stay tuned. Lots more on the way! 

-- Josh Hawkins

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A new Nielson/NetRatings report shows Brightcove customers Guardian and Telegraph in the top two spots for most popular and fastest growing newspaper websites in the UK. Both newspapers have recently launched new, ad-supported Internet video channels throughout their websites and are taking full advantage of the Brightcove Internet TV platform to extend their online properties with frequently updated video coverage and original news programming. We are extremely excited to be partnered with these leading newspaper organizations. (Read more about about Brightcove and Guardian News & Media, and Telegraph Media Group).

-- Josh Hawkins

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Today, at the MediaGuardian's Changing Advertising Summit, Jeremy Allaire delivered a keynote address, which focused on major industry trends and innovation in Internet video distribution and online advertising. It's clear UK media owners are in the midst of a perfect storm of household broadband adoption, exploding consumer demand for Internet video, and a rush of advertising dollars shifting from traditional outlets to online media - trends that are being embraced by some of the biggest names in news and entertainment programming.

Today's keynote comes on the heels of a string of significant customer wins in the UK and the rapid adoption of the Brightcove Internet TV service, including television broadcasters British Sky Broadcasting and UKTV, newspaper publishers Guardian News & Media and Telegraph Media Group, magazine publishers Emap, IPC Media, and Hachette Filipacchi UK, as well as music entertainment programmers, such as Sony BMG UK.

We look forward to expanding our service offerings and investment in the region to continue to help media owners take advantage of the fast-changing media landscape.

Beet.tv has posted a great video interview with Adam Berrey, Brightcove vice president of marketing and strategy, which touches on Brightcove's launch in the UK, as well as other timely topics. 

-- Josh Hawkins

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