blinkx

Multimedia search provider blinkx has announced a distribution partnership with Getty Images today. The partnership brings blinkx search technology to the Getty Images database. Apparently it's easier to search for images on Getty using the blinkx search rather than the search on the Getty Images site.

blinkx will use their ad platform, AdHoc, to serve ads next to the images from the Getty Images library. Revenue will be shared between both companies.

Last month blinkx made an offer to acquire Miva and this year they have formed a variety of partnerships with Revision3 and the BBC.

Video search provider blinkx has publicly announced its proposal to acquire online advertising company Miva today. Miva closed yesterday on the Nasdaq at $0.78/share, down from it's 52-week high of $5.76. blinkx is offering $1.20/share in cash.

blinkx has worked a variety of distribution deals this year -- all to help increase the market share for their video search. Miva is best known for their in-content ads. These are the ads that usually have double-underlines and when you mouse over them a small ad pops up over the word(s). PaidContent has more financial analysis on the potential acquisition.

Here's the full text of the letter from blinkx to Miva's management team:

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Re: blinkx and MIVA Combination

I am writing on behalf of the board of directors of blinkx Plc to make a proposal for the business combination of blinkx and MIVA. Under our proposal, blinkx would acquire all of the outstanding shares of MIVA common stock for $1.20 in cash per share. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition. The transaction would be funded from existing cash resources of the two companies.

Proposal. Our proposal represents a 54.0% premium above the closing price of MIVA common stock of $0.78 on August 7, 2008, and a 36% premium over the average closing price for the one month prior to August 7, 2008.

By whatever financial measure one might use, we believe this proposal represents a compelling value realization opportunity for your shareholders and the quickest and most secure way to see such value, particularly given the several challenges MIVA faces in the near term, including: risk and cost associated with the new technology platform, a deteriorating cash position, continued deterioration of the Media EU business and continued decline in revenue and profitability.

We believe that MIVA's shareholders would not be well-served by any delay in negotiating or completing the merger process, and that time and/or another round of restructuring plans will not significantly increase MIVA's valuation.

Background. Having worked together for a number of years you will be aware that blinkx is the world's largest and most advanced video search engine. Founded in 2004 by Suranga Chandratillake, the company completed a successful IPO on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) in May 2007 and currently has a market capitalization of approximately $160 million, with headquarters in San Francisco, CA and the UK. With an index of over 26 million hours of searchable video and more than 350 media partnerships, including national broadcasters, commercial media giants, and private video libraries, blinkx has cemented its position as the premier destination for online TV. blinkx pioneered video search on the Internet, enhanced by $150 million in R&D over 12 years, and is now protected by 111 patents.

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It's been a few weeks since the last blinkx release and I was getting a bit worried about the company. But today they are out with a new partnership, this time with MEN7. MEN7 describes themselves as delivering on-demand, high definition, dynamic television programming to men ages 25 to 54.

blinkx will use their video search technology to place relevant advertising next to the videos served on the MEN7 network and will share revenue with MEN7. Other financial terms of the deal were not released.

blinkx now reports 350 partners and 26 million hours of indexed video and audio content. Their latest partnerships include Revision3 and Kiplinger.

Multimedia search provider Pixsy will announce tomorrow a new distribution partnership with National Lampoon. Under the terms of the partnership, Pixsy will power a custom branded search within the National Lampoon network of entertainment sites which they self-report at over five million unique users per month. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pixsy and Blinkx (our coverage) seem to be on a crash course for each other in the video search space. Not a week goes by without a Blinkx press release about some new distribution partner while Pixsy seems to have lovin' from the Valley crowd. Until either one can reach the mainstream audience, distribution deals are key.

Check out our interview with Pixsy CEO Chase Norlin.

Video search engine blinkx is announcing a formal partnership with Revision3 today. The partnership will bring Revision3's shows, including Diggnation, to the video search powered by blinkx. Financial terms were not disclosed except to say that Revision3 will share in the revenue generated by the ads blinkx provides in the videos.

Jim Louderback, CEO, Revision3 said of the deal, "Our partnership with blinkx not only extends our reach, but their advanced search technology furthers our commitment to making our content on-demand and easily accessible."

blinkx notes that they have indexed 18 million hours of video. In addition to Revision3 today, the company has also partnered with the BBC and Kiplinger.

blinkx continues its distribution deals, this time with the BBC. This news comes after a variety of other distribution deals including PodShow and Kiplinger. All BBC iPlayer content will be indexed to make it easily searchable and they will offer a quick preview before the jump. The company claims more than 220 partners and 18 million hours of indexed video and audio content in their search engine.

blinkx also released a summary of their findings from a survey on TV and online video usage. Some of the highlights include:

• 78% of adults who watch television use the web while doing so
• 35% report doing so often or always
• 62% of double-dippers surf for content related to what they're watching
• 40% of them look for products/services that appeared in or were advertised during the program they're watching
• 39% of them look for upcoming/related events
• When it comes to watching video or television content online, twice as many online adults typically watch full-length television shows, movies, or sporting events, as compared to user-generated content (25% vs. 13%, respectively).
• When it comes to finding Internet video content, consumer behavior is almost equally divided between search engines and users going directly to content owner Web sites

This morning, video search engine, blinkx is announcing a new partnership with Raindance, founder of the Raindance Film Festival and the British Independent Film Awards. Under the terms of the agreement, blinkx will host, transcribe and index top independent shorts, features and documentaries from the Raindance Film Festival. blinkx will also place contextually relevant advertising against the footage, and will share resulting advertising revenue with Raindance.

This comes after blinkx's deals with PodShow and Kiplinger personal finance videos. With these new distribution and hosting deals, blinkx appears to not only want to be the video search leader but also become a strong player in the content syndication business as well. They currently have more than 220 partners and 18 million hours of indexed video and audio content.

Online video search provider blinkx has signed a deal to add Kiplinger personal finance videos to its index. This deal comes a month after their deal with PodShow. Under the terms of the agreement, blinkx will host, transcribe and index video content from Kiplinger.com's library of reports by financial experts. Leveraging its unique AdHoc platform, blinkx will also place contextually relevant advertising against the footage, and will share resulting ad revenue with Kiplinger.

I do notice that blinkx does not appear to index Viddler or Vimeo, two of my favorites. Can these video search engines compete with Google and the other standard search engines? Will any of these players be able to move into the mainstream? As video online grows, there is a decent chance for at least one of the players to "make it." Other video search services include Pixsy.

blinkx is announcing today that they will power the video search for PodShow. blinkx claims to be "the world's largest video search engine" and PodShow claims the, "world's #1 broadband entertainment network and leading distributor of independently-produced episodic content." I thought Blip was the leader on episodic content?

"Searching for entertainment should be as entertaining as the entertainment itself," PodShow CEO Ron Bloom said. "By combining PodShow's deep trove of episodic content with blinkx's video search engine, we will enable PodShow's audience to discover and share the best in new media from PodShow and across the net."

"Podshow has always been a visionary in rich media on the Web," said Suranga Chandratillake, founder and CEO, blinkx. "We're very proud to be powering search for this pioneering social media community to make millions of hours of content easily searchable for their users."

Looks like the deal is a rev share model and the program will be called "Searchertainment".