startupi

I just checked out this post on the blog Idéia 2.0 from IDGNow! It’s about a recently created Brazilian startup called TvMoob that is focused on methods for monetizing internet video. No less a company than YouTube has been struggling with this problem and clearly there is a need for experimentation and innovation here.

TVMoob is experimenting with various ad formats ranging from sponsored links (image above, link below) to redirects to other ad-bugs superimposed on the video. The idea is to demonstrate the possibilities in such a compelling way that companies like Videolog and other video services will come calling.

It’s unclear if monetizing video is the sole focus of TvMoob or if they are also trying to become a video platform. Of course, if you don’t have a successful video platform, it is hard to know if the advertising model is working or not. Despite this challenge, I think this is a great initiative and any criticism here is meant to be constructive. It’s a great beginning just to get the idea working!

Agreement and Disagreement

Idéia 2.0 reports that YouTube is a money pit. For the time being that is true. They also say that this is a problem. Here I would have to disagree. I recently read this discussion about what Google is building with YouTube. While monetization is an ongoing goal and preoccupation, it is clear that Google has other strategic opportunities with YouTube.

Google is an advertising and search engine business. Their current strength lies in text-based search and ranking. Searching videos is a different beast. To do this one needs algorithms that understand human speech and transform this into searchable information. Then think about the other side: YouTube is a huge database of human speech.

It’s true, that with 13 hours of video posted per minute, it is indeed a huge database of human speech in every language, accent and intonation. This data base could serve to create an algorithm for searching video based on voice recognition. And from there, with search and video, it could be possible to develop a better ad solution than the current model.

TvMoob wants to do the opposite. Not that focusing on profitability is wrong. But I believe the main focus has to be with the core business, which for everyone who visits the site is video. Unless, of course, your business model is advertising via web video.