What Happend to Joost?

Remember Joost? What happened? They were media darlings for ages... now, I rarely hear anything save maybe a content partnership reported in Cynopsis. My theory: who really wants to download an application when so much video is available online?

I use Hulu all the time at Rachel's house. She doesn't have cable, so it's a great way for us to catch up on the latest NBC/Fox shows. However, as much as I watch Hulu while I'm there, I've never thought of downloading Joost.

Ah well. I'd love to see usage numbers since launch.

Remember: you can get to this blog by visiting http://www.ilovejoost.com.

Interactive Videos

Arcade Fire released their first video for their current album, Neon Bible. The video was released online at http://www.beonlineb.com. It's a great idea - a completely interactive video. Click around while you watch. The video was made specifically for the Internet with a production cost of about $15,000.

For more on interactive video check out this Reuters story.

Can Hulu Take Out Joost?

Alley Insider has an interesting take on where Hulu may make a dent in the market: Joost. I always take Henry Blodget's analysis with a grain of salt, but he makes an interesting point here.

Here are my previous thoughts on Joost.

Joost has not only a greater volume of content, but a more diverse library. However, that "fat" client is a real issue when it comes to online video. Get it to my TV Joost, and quick, before your buzz wears out.

New Media Minute

Is it just me, or does this really feel like Friday?

Here's this week's New Media Minute via Online Video Watch.

Surprising Numbers for Metromix

Metromix, a Tribune backed online venture, is doing surprisingly well. It was launched just this summer and, according to my Comscore reports, is bringing in over half a million uniques a month. That's not shabby for a newly launched newspaper property. Of course, Metromix doesn't really look like a newspaper and no where on the site is there any mention of Tribute. In any case, congrats to the team over there - especially Rochelle Oliver, who's an old friend of mine.

Metromix currently has editions in Chicago, LA, New York, Baltimore, Hampton Roads, South Florida, Connecticut and Orlando. It offers articles and reviews based around nightlife, food, music, movies and TV. I think the site could use some video (call me).

Adieu AOL France

In a flurry of layoffs, AOL has been letting employees go left and right. This is how AOL France spent their last days. Simply an amazing video to check out on Alley Insider. These guys rock!

Watch it here.

Signed Up For VideoCafe

The NewsMarket (who I used to work for) launched a product called VideoCafe a few weeks ago. I just signed up and am waiting for my registration to be approved (seems like a silly step to have to take, but whatever). Hopefully soon I'll have direct access to up-to-date corporate video, which yes, even on a blog, has a place and purpose.

Here's a preview:

Xobni is Recruiting

I've been telling everyone how cool I think Xobni is. I use it everyday. Now, they're even cooler. Here's a nice recruiting video:

Actually, No. I Don't Love Joost.

You can get to this site via a few URL's. Tellmeyes.com used to be a site with my art - paintings and the like - Andrewbaisley.com is obviously the main URL, but you can also get here via ILoveJoost.com.

ILoveJoost.com was registered mostly as a joke between friends. I don't take serious issue with Joost. The idea is right, the funding is there, the employees are great, but really, who the heck watches TV on their computer?

Joost isn't stupid. They know a computer screen doesn't compare to a television screen and I'm sure it's something they're working on (I'm not just assuming, mind you). Until this problem is solved, however, they're going to have a hard time gaining much traction.

ROO Group

I recently started a new job at ROO Group. Family and friends have been asking what, exactly, ROO does and I thought this video of our CEO, Robert Petty, might help:

The Husky Network: "a big static pop up on your page with a hole in the middle"

Online Video Watch is reporting that Heavy.com will be launching a new ad network called The Husky Network. The network consists of branded player skins sold on a CPM basis. I just love Online Video Watch's description as, "Heavy will be dropping a big static pop up on your page with a hole in the middle for the video to play in."

Over at The Husky Network site there are examples of what the skins look line. Fittingly, they are both heavy and husky. These things are huge, ugly and intrusive.

Brandframe Takes Product Placement Online

I ran across an interesting company today called Brandframe. I don't know anything about them or how successful they are (if you know, let me know), but I thought I'd share anyway. From what I understand Brandframe has created a marketplace where content producers and advertisers can link up and make offers to place products within video.

This is interesting because there are currently so many companies trying to figure out the best way to advertise against online video. ClickZ reported on an OPA study citing that 30 second ads are much more effective than 15 second ads. 30% on ad relevance and 23% on brand awareness, to be exact. So, what does this mean for product placement?

Obviously the goals of product placement are very different from other ad models. For one thing, product placement offers no direct response. The effectiveness is very difficult to measure and can usually only work for very recognizable brands.

One great thing about the Brandframe platform is its ablilty to open up that dialog between producers and brands. This will probably lead to very targeted placement - who knows the viewer better than the producer themselves? Hopefully this means that viewers will only see products they are actually interested in.

But back to the OPA study; if a 15 second ad is ~30% less effective than a 30 second ad, how effective is a few fleeting seconds of a product? Especially without any call to action. Is this a fair comparison or are we talking apples and oranges here?

It would be great to see Brandframe, or others, build a platform that matches product placement up with surrounding advertising. For example, if I'm watching a video of someone eating a Snickers, there should be a Snickers ad on the page and near the player. This is being done to come extent with contextual marketing, but I think this could be a profitable add-on service for Brandframe.

TheNewsRoom Embedded Video Player

I'm still in the process of defining exactly what I want this site to be. In the meantime, I figured that it would be a good opportunity to try out some new things. Yesterday I told you about BuzzFeed; today I've added an embedded video player from TheNewsRoom.

A few complaints right off the bat. For one, the player is ugly as hell. As far as I can tell, they don't give you many options on customizing the look and feel. You have a few templates to choose from (none of which fit in my sidebar), but no options on color or custom sizes. Because of this, I have to place the player in a fairly useless spot - at the very bottom of the main content page.

My second complaint is simply one of usability. After I signed up I wasn't sure what to do next. I ended up using code for a general technology-themed player, but I couldn't figure out how to customize the content. That's an issue.

I'll leave the player up for a little while and see how it goes, but I can't see how this would add any value to my readers. If there's no value to you then it shouldn't be there. We'll see though. If you want to keep it, make sure you press play every once in a while.