ComScore 2009 U.S. Digital Year in Review

By way of EyeView I went to the Comscore site to download their 2009 Digital Review. There are some interesting charts and observations worth noting.

1. 86 percent of the total U.S. online population viewed video content in Dec. 2009
2. According to Comscore the average minutes viewed per video grew from 3.2 minutes to 4.1 minutes between Dec. 2008 and Dec. 2009.
3. More than half of the time spent viewing video occurs on "Long Tail" video sites. In other words, if YouTube's share of eyeballs is 26 percent and the #2-#25 Video sites garner another 22 percent of viewers, then 52 percent of video viewed on the web is being done at other sites!

It's this third point that stands out for me. "Long Tail" is what the web is all about. Books for which no shelf space is available at your local brick and mortar location can be found on Amazon. eBay and tiny e-tailers are just the place to find items not found in national chain stores. If 52 percent of video is not viewed on any one of the top 25 sites for video, that means people are searching, finding and watching somewhere else. Maybe they're viewing video on your site! If you're not using video on your site you're missing an opportunity and if you are using video, use it to engage, but also do your best to learn something about your viewers so that you can continue to provide them with compelling experiences and a reason to stay connected.

By way of conclusion, the ComScore white paper states: "Online video continues to capitalize on the continued increase in media fragmentation, consumer generated content, and a rising generation of consumers very comfortable using their computers as primary or secondary entertainment devices. As this market has emerged, higher quality video and more seamless integration of video ads are emerging and adding value to the digital advertising market -- to the benefit of both advertisers and publishers."

HTML5 vs. Flash?

Check this out!
If On2 is off to Google and Google wants to clear the future so as to be free of H.264 fees after 2016... we may just be looking at the rise and fall of Flash and Silverlight... interesting games are afoot!

OVP meets SEO, Chatter, and Pilates!

I guess this is like a retweet, because I'm just going to mention here that the REELSEO blog has an informative post about how some Online Video Platforms are taking Search Engine Optimization very seriously. Not only that, this is a great list to use if you're looking for an OVP for your video initiatives.

If you happened to read this post about Chatter by Robert Scoble, you might want to also take the time to view the video at the end of the post. At about 8 minutes into the interview Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com tells Mr. Scoble that the time people spend on the web can be roughly divided into thirds, a third of the time spent viewing video, a third spent in collaboration (read: social networking such as Facebook), and a third in search. That's a lot of video!

To round out this post, I'd like to insert a Business Web Video of my own... Produced for a local pilates studio, this two minute video is very basic, but I think it does what it needs to do which is make you want to check out their services. So far we've posted it to YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo, as well as Tweeted it's existence. We'll continue to push it out there and do our best to follow the eyeballs that view it!

Purely Pilates from Seerveld Media on Vimeo.

Tech Crunch: digging deep into what makes Web Video work or not

I came across these three posts on Tech Crunch written by Ashkan Karbasfrooshan. There are more coming, so look out for them! I just pulled out a few items to wet your whistle... go check 'em out.
1. Getting Paid for Content
Fiction vs. Non Fiction
Even non-fiction video content needs to be demonstrative (vs. descriptive). Meanwhile, chasing hits with fiction remains too speculative; the risk/reward benefit makes it prohibitive online. Producers who understand this will have an edge over time as budgets shift to video.
2. 12 Surprising Things Holding Back Online Video Advertising
Surprise #6: When It Comes to Sales, Sell Your Audience, Not Your Videos
Nonetheless, I see way too many producers sell videos over audience, and then when they fail to generate any meaningful distribution, the marketer gets disappointed, blaming the strategy over the tactic.  You have to create audiences for your content. It can be one audience or it can be many.
3. Context is King
Factor 2: Deportalization is Here to Stay
As the media world becomes fragmented and consumers move online, the Web is following a similar path, known as deportalization: the move away from the dominant portals of old, as social networks gain huge followings and vertical niche sites gain smaller, but more loyal, followings.
Factor 4: Content is King?
No one, after all, cares about the pipes; it’s what flows through the pipes that matters.  The context—Facebook, Twitter, email—in which people are introduced to media and consume it is becoming more important than the content itself.  Content is no longer king, context is.

And for your viewing pleasure, also from Tech Crunch, a short interview/update from Brightcove founder/CEO Jeremy Allaire.