S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Subscribe
Get the next ClickZ Today newsletter delivered to your inbox!

October 9, 2009

YouTube to Partner with U.K.'s Channel 4 for long-form Video?

YouTube is close to agreeing to a landmark deal with U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, according to a report from the Telegraph. The partnership would see Channel 4 itself selling ad inventory around its long-form content, splitting a portion of that revenue with the Google-owned video site, the Telegraph says.

A Google spokesperson told me today the firm "does not comment on speculation," but Google and Channel 4 have been ramping up their partnership over the past year or so, so this seems a logical progression. Channel 4 and YouTube began trialing pre-roll ads together in May, and video syndication and rights management company Myvideorights signed its own similar revenue sharing agreement with YouTube in June.

According to the Telegraph, however, the new deal would see the majority of Channel 4's content available through the site, potentially opening up a range of high-value inventory for the broadcaster, and effectively snatching a large portion of the U.K.'s commercial video content from under the nose of rival Hulu which is yet to launch its product there.

According the Telegraph, the contract, which has been in negotiation for around six months, is due to be signed "imminently."

Posted by Jack Marshall at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yahoo Now Filters Ads in Search Results Too

Last month, Yahoo debuted its new search results pages, which among other things allow a user to filter organic search results by site. Today, Yahoo added the ability for a publisher's ads to be filtered as well.

It's being touted as a benefit to users, but not all advertisers will be happy about the move.

Beginning today, if a user elects to filter results by a site, and that site is also an advertiser on a relevant keyword, the user will see both organic search results from that site, and ads from that site -- without competitors' ads, Jeff Hecox, client communications manager, writes in a blog post to the Yahoo Search Marketing blog.

For example, if a user is searching for "U2 concert" on Yahoo, the results include several sponsored search ads along the right-hand side of the page. But if the user opts to filter the search results to only those from StubHub.com, for example, most of the ads will disappear, with the only ads remaining those that were bought by StubHub.

According to Hecox, the domains Yahoo uses to filter results are chosen "based on a number of factors, such as their listings' quality, popularity and user response."

"All advertisers will still get the same chances at clicks before any filtering takes place. But those advertisers whose sites show up as a filtering option will get further opportunities for clicks when their ad shows up in the narrowed results -- without any competing ads. And the ads may be more relevant to consumers, as our systems take the user's choice into account," writes Hecox.

That kind of exclusivity could rile some advertisers, who are not privileged to be among the sites included in Yahoo's filtered content lists.

"I think it limits competition and gives a huge preference to big-name brands like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Buy.com, and the like." Melissa Mackey, online marketing manager at Fluency Media, told ClickZ. As an agency representing smaller clients, Mackey said she has often been able to "level the playing field" and compete with bigger advertisers through savvy use of PPC ads. "This effectively cuts off the lesser-known advertisers who may have a great product and offer, but lack the household name," she said.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Craigslist Fights Spammers in Cali (recommended reads)

A few stories ClickZ's editors are reading:

Craigslist Expands Legal Battle Against Spammers Files four federal suits in the golden state.

Kaspersky Lab Detects Use of YouTube for Video Spam Security firm discovers mass spam mailings with links to video ads hosted on YouTube.

Nielsen Calls Client Pow-Wow To Pitch Online Measurement Plans Will present agenda for measuring online video viewership alongside broadcast audiences. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Dennis Launches Online Ad Network

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YouTube Now a True Leviathan of Video, Cracks a Billion Views a Day

We don't usually cover traffic milestones here at ClickZ, but this one deserves a mention.

Three years to the day after Google bought YouTube, the video giant is routinely serving more than a billion video views per day. In fact, it's so happy at about the accomplishment that it's updated its logo. There's more over at the official YouTube blog.

Meanwhile, new insight has emerged into what motivated Google in that fateful acquisition. In a deposition related to the copyright suit filed by Viacom, reviewed by CNET, Eric Schmidt reportedly told the court he estimated YouTube's real value at only about $600 to $700 million. The actual price paid, $1.65 billion, suggests just how keenly the company wanted to keep the property out of the hands of its rivals.

Of course, the real question on everyone's mind now is when YouTube will cross that fateful two billion video mark. Why? Well, YouTube is already the undisputed king of empty-calorie content snacking. All the better when it's logo can reflect that with the updated tagline, "billions and billions served."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

See More Posts From:

Today | This Week | This Month