social video Archive

Online video service Kyte has just announced that they will be terminating their free service as of August 31, 2011. The email I received includes the following explanation on why they are discontinuing the free service, “After launching in 2007 with mobile “life streaming” media sharing apps for consumers and participating in the explosion of online and mobile video, it has been a good run.  Now that we are totally focused on our professional offering, we can no longer maintain the free service.”

You can check out our CenterNetworks Kyte channel – I haven’t used it in years but did use it pretty heavily for the 2008 Techcrunch and Demo events for startup demos and the famous “schwag bag” videos (in case you are wondering, Techcrunch had the better bag).

Here are the instructions to download your media from Kyte — you need to do this by August 29:

• Log into kyte.tv.
• The “My Kyte” section will display a list of your channels on the right.
• Under channel name click Manage Channel.
• The Manage Channel page will display.
• Click Media Download URL.
• A new tab/page will launch with a list of all shows and media on the channel.
• For each show, right click the Download link and click Save Link As.
• If you have multiple channels, go back to the My Kyte tab/page and follow the above steps for each channel.

Kyte has setup a FAQ about the free service discontinuation.

Video hosting service Viddler has announced the availability of their new analytics tool today. The reporting engine is provided through a partnership between Viddler and TubeMogul.

From the announcement, “Comprehensive statistics about your videos are now only a click away. Of course, Viddler Analytics answers even more questions than those above. How much storage has my account used this month? How much video bandwidth have we used so far? Am I close to my account level threshold yet? These questions, and others, are very important to our Business level accounts.” The partner analytics provides more “social” stats around comments, total video views and individual video stats.

To use the Viddler analytics tool, you must be a business or partner customer. Business accounts start at $100/month. When I attempt to load the analytics tool I am redirected back to the Viddler home page. They should probably change that to redirect to a page describing the analytics option and how to get access to it.

I love seeing more stats and analytics around the content I create so I welcome a new set of video metrics. Now I guess I need to create more videos…anyone see the BloggerKing lately?

Here’s an overview video of how the analytics tool works:
Continue reading “Viddler Adds Analytics” »

Logitech has announced the launch of a new video calling product today named Vid. Here’s how Logitech describes the Vid service, “Logitech dramatically simplifies video calling with Vid by offering a streamlined setup and a simple, intuitive interface dedicated to video calling. In fact, you can set up Vid in fewer than half the steps required by the major instant-messaging programs.”

Basically you install an application and then when you want to video call someone, you send them an email with an invitation to video chat. I guess that means you need to figure out when your friend or family member is around  for the chat. Logitech says they made the application as easy-to-use as possible.

The service is free for Logitech webcam owners; others can use the service for free for 30 days and then they are required to purchase a Logitech webcam.

I guess I am confused – Logitech makes out like it’s hard to make a video call today. I make a number of video calls using Skype and it couldn’t be easier. With Skype I know when my buddies are online and when I start a call with them I can click the “start video” button. That’s it. How does using yet another piece of software and having to send out emails versus just seeing my buddies online make it easier? I am also not forced to use a Logitech webcam – something my newly refurbished Dell laptop does not have.

I’ve been playing with TinyChat over the past couple of weeks and it too looks super easy for video conferencing. With over a dozen people using their webcams, the service was solid and no real lag was seen. Using TinyChat couldn’t be easier – there is a large button that says start conferencing – click it and your video and/or audio starts. That’s it – they don’t ask what type of webcam you are using. Mashable’s Pete Cashmore announced earlier this week that they will be using TinyChat for the new Mashable video lounge.

If Logitech wants to get into the video conferencing and calling game, perhaps they should acquire TinyChat.

They call themselves the “Video Twitter” — their name is 12seconds. The idea is that you can create video from your computer or mobile in 12 seconds and upload it to their site and share it with your friends. VentureBeat and NewTeeVee were able to get into the private alpha version last month.

Today 12seconds moves into public alpha (which still requires an invite??). Some of the new features launching today include a friend search, the ability to send your 12seconds videos to Twitter and a “channel” function which will play videos back-to-back.

Many will compare 12seconds to Seesmic but there really is no comparison. Seesmic is a video message board while 12seconds hopes to be a quick hit and share platform.

I spoke with co-founder David Speiser who explained that the team is bootstrapping it currently but they are looking to raise funding. The founders even bartered items from their homes to help get things the developers were looking for. We also spoke about the fail whale and Speiser noted that they have spent time researching why Twitter has had so many scaling issues in the hopes of not repeating the issues with 12seconds.

Update: Jonathan Fields says: Isn’t that just Utterz with a timecap?

We’ve got a bunch of invites, complete this form to grab one.

Here’s an example video from 12seconds from famous video blogger Veronica Belmont:

Last week we wrote about the default strategy that FriendFeed currently employs. Today we are back with a video message board Seesmic testing a new default strategy. 

Earlier today, Seesmic community blogger Jeremy Vaught announced that when new users signup to Seesmic, they will automatically receive a set of followers which are considered defaults. The policy would allow Seesmic to setup all new users with the top 30 Seesmic users, as well as the Seesmic staff automatically. The "top 30" would be created by number of videos posted.  

Within minutes of the blog post going live, the Seesmic community reacted and reacted in a strong manner. Users responded both in text on the blog post along with videos on Seesmic. User Deek (video below) says he doesn’t want anyone to follow him unless they want to. Deek’s video is perfect – maybe other startups should watch it and see why defaults are such a bad idea.

CEO Loic LeMeur (a FriendFeed default) has turned off the default feature based on the community feedback. His video is also embedded below. It’s good to see him switch course based on feedback from the community. I can’t tell if the default strategy actually went into place and then removed or if it was just discussed as “coming soon”.

Here’s Deek’s video.

Here’s Loic’s responses – there’s no way to link to the thread but you can watch the thread in the video.

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.

Break Media announced a new ROI Council to analyze and determine online video advertising effectiveness and better understand the challenges in measuring ROI for the online video medium. The council members are all large companies and I’d prefer to see some journalists and individual consultants added to the list. Break Media held an event in NYC on Tuesday and below are the notes from the meeting provided to CN by Break Media’s PR agency.

Andrew Budkofsky (SVP of Sales and Partnerships, Break Media) kicked off the event by comparing online video return on investment to a dress code: it’s open to interpretation. This seemed rather apt for the setting of the 21 Club, renowned for its old New York style and strict business attire policy.

Kris Magel (SVP Director National Broadcast, Initiative Media) provided a perspective on the current state of the online video marketplace and opportunities for advertiser. He noted:

• There is an opportunity for high delivery with the online video medium with less clutter; we know it works well even though there is a lot of confusion out there.
• There is an imminent need for industry benchmarks, especially when you get into unique custom content which is much more difficult to measure.
• There is tremendous opportunity for learnings around measurement through segmenting out different kind of video delivered on the Web, including full length video with mid roll ads and in-video interactive overlays or skins. How can we know how ads perform on Hulu compared to Yahoo?
• The measurement of engagement has to be conducted by a neutral third party; digital advertising has to add value to the overall package and enhance the experience for consumers and advertisers.

Jason Valentzas (VP of Consumer Marketing, truTV) provided insight into how truTV is navigating the online video marketplace

• Jason provided an example of the Beach Patrol Webisodes, which follow recruits trying to become lifeguards. He showed how truTV was able to ascertain that the program delivered strong ROI, 2x the value invested, through working across different channels such as Yahoo, MSN and Break.
• Jason highlighted the important of content seeding across video sharing networks and how user commentary helps drive interest.
• Jason also noted that they found shorter clips had higher viewing completion rates but longer clips had higher CTR. Right now they are focused on trying to get tune-in and driving awareness so shorter clips garner more views.
• In terms of gaps and challenges, Jason highlighted the need for: better third party tracking, tie backs to linear network acquisition & retention metrics.

Matt Culter (VP of Marketing & Analytics, Visible Measures) discussed core metrics to gauge ROI in online video:

• Matt provided a sample 30 second ad made for TV but that was pushed out online. On this video he asked the audience to predict the highest points of engagement. Then he showed how and where actual engagement was happening and where people were rewinding compared to actually leaving site. Initial abandonment is on average 30%, so he stressed the importance of the opening of an online video
• Matt showed how they were able to take engagement curves and captivation to find out what viewers find particularly interesting. Engagement index – how can different ads be compared.

Andrew Budkofsky (SVP of Sales and Partnerships, Break Media) along with Keith Richman, (CEO of Break Media) provided details on its newly formed Online Video ROI Council.

• Andrew highlighted the charter of the council, which is to better understand advertising ROI in online video through research and the sharing of experience, as well as to develop more reliable metrics.
• Keith and Andrew noted the action plan includes uncovering media buyers and perceptions of online video ads, along with sharing lessons learned and providing a higher level of accountability.
• The future of what the council is expected to bring was also discussed, which includes: expanded use of quality metrics, a deeper dive into online video ROI and a study of high involvement versus low involvement.
• Andrew also noted how advertisers, brands and vendors can be involved through joining the council and attending quarterly meetings to discuss campaigns, conduct their own research and work with other council members to establish standards.