Kyte.tv wants to go beyond YouTube in helping people get attention to their video making skills. The company has launched a self-publishing platform to add images and videos on the fly, and wraps it all in social networking features. Would-be stars can host live chats around their content or create message boards, or enable viewers to rate their video clips.

The press release and website don't mention any fees for joining or publishing video, so I'm assuming that they this will be an ad-supported service. YouTube enables people to subscribe to video feeds, but Kyte makes it even easier for publishers to bond with an audience.

Kyte is aggregating readily available technologies and packaging it to create "web video publishing for dummies."

First everyone had a blog, then everyone had a MySpace page. Is a Kyte channel the next natural evolution?

What TV show is most recorded and watched later? Let's just say the doctor is in. House (one of my faves) was recorded and watched within a week 2.7 million times last week according to the Nielsen Company.

Overall 4 shows were watched by more than 2 million viewers after their broadcast. The Office, which was watched by just 5.7 million people in prime time, got another 1.8 million viewings later via DVRs.

Advertisers have to adjust to this new reality and prepare eye-catching spots that people will find it worthwhile to stop their fast forwarding to see. GE has done several effective ads within ads that are meant to be viewed in slow motion, and others will soon copy. Or, advertisers will have to form strategic relationships with DVR box makers such as TiVo so that alternative ads can be watched before in between the programs. And then there's always product placement within the shows.

I think DVR users would tolerate a short (10 second) spot before they watch a recorded program. Alternatively, DVR manufacturers could develop targeted ads that would run in the place of the original ads. A shorter targeted commercial would be a welcome trade for automatically skipping by the native ads.

Within a few years DVRs will become more popular than DVD players. Maybe this isn't the best analogy, but getting a DVR is like moving from a 1 to 10 speed bike. Once you realize how much more enjoyable the experience is, you would never ever go back.

I'm not one to take surveys, I usually disregard them and file them in the "to do" basket, but I'm glad I didn't do that with the Technorati survey I received today.

Why didn't I delete the email you ask?
Quite simple, the folks at Technorati (especially in support) have really helped me out quite a bit with minor bugs over the past year and I felt that I owed it to them. So I decided to give their survey a fair shake and I was quite pleased with what I found.

Note: I really hate it when companies use 3rd parties for their surveys because it tells me the survey isn't really important enough for us to host it internally... Technorati used Zoomerang for this survey and that would normally be strike 2 but see the preceding paragraph to understand my logic. All of this ties to personal branding by a large company and Technorati is great at that.

Technorati wants to know about widget usage and what bloggers want
I know that sentence sounded a bit like big brother asking permission for some information it already has on us but I'll explain. Technorati is looking to roll out a new line of widgets but want to give users (bloggers) what they really want and as a result has decided to go directly to bloggers to get answers to their questions. Honestly, I'm kind of glad they asked me about widgets since I thought I didn't even use any on mshift. But after reading through some of the questions I realized there's no real standard definition of a widget and we must accept what we see commercially and what we hear socially in order to arrive at one. Let me explain this with a couple sample questions from the survey along with my answers.








Okay, last question and I'll leave you alone. This is the one that really got me thinking about the essence of a widget and it boils down to utility... Does the widget automate something for me and add value from that automation? If so then I must consider it.

Note: I know what I'm talking about here sounds like spyware but I promise that's not what I mean at all. As an example, when I'm logged into Gmail on the web I can see a list of buddys and Barry Schwartz name is on my list. Well, I've learned a lot about Barry in recent months by simply watching hist profile automatically update with the song he's currently listening to. That simple widget (if you will allow me to call it that) has given me insight into Barry's love of Southern and Classic Rock-N-Roll and it has come about from automation. That's precisely what I'm talking about.

If you want to give the Technorati survey a whirl then go ahead and fill it out and tell em large Marge sent ya! Oh yeah, if you want to you can always add mshift to your list of favorite blogs while you're at it.

What hath Steve Jobs wrought? The momentum towards restriction-free music is unstoppable, and there will be no going back.

First there was Apple and EMI, then Microsoft and EMI saying they would sell music without digital rights management software that prevents tracks from being transferred to other devices. Apple made its decision for the wrong reason, but now they've set off an avalanche that now includes Amazon and Michael Robertson (of MP3.com fame)'s Anywherecd.com.

Consumers want music that they are free to rip to CDs or move to any mobile device, and paying a small premium is, well, a small price to pay. Music anywhere is a compelling sell, and this should spark a marketing frenzy for the reminder of the year.

Free internet radio stations are endangered thanks to the higher per-song royalties, so more people will be buying there music. Instead of offering ads against free music, advertising will be focused on promoting the pay-for services.

Regarding GooTube's disdain for pre-roll ads: never say never. According to Vnunet.com, Google is raring to go on 30 second pre-roll ads, with 2008 a likely launch date. Google has its sites on siphoning off TV advertising dollars with an ad format that agencies are comfortable with buying.

Bully for Google for recognizing that pre-roll ads for video sites are inevitable. However, 30 seconds for 1-2 minute spot is a bit much for viewers to tolerate, so they should be flexible in embracing long and short form ads to match the types of content that they offer. One 30 second ad per 5 minutes is probably about right, and just as TV offers quickie ads for local companies, 5 to 10 second ads can also be effective teasers.

As I've said before, pre-roll will be an important part of the free video mix and users will adjust. However, other revenue streams (interactive ads, animated gifs, etc.) are also necessary if video sites want to turn a profit.

See also:

YouTube: Think Beyond the Pre-Roll

No Ads, No Video Search

Advertisers who can't reach them on TV, outdoors, online or in print, can market to a captive audience at the gas station.

You may have seen at least one gas pump with an advertising video screen, but it won't be the last. Westinghouse Digital Electronics and AdtekMedia, Inc. have signed a deal to install thousands of video screens at filling stations in the top 60 U.S. markets.

The advantages of advertising on "PumpTop TV" include a captive audience that comes back at least once a week. Unless the customer is on the cell phone, he or she probably has nothing else to distract from watching the video screen. While the audience is not focused, you can assume that they are of driving age and own a car, a minimum demographic. Pricing for ads may depend on the neighborhood of the gas station.

Since many people pay for their gas by swiping a credit/debit card, the future may lie in using that information to target the ads. The demographic information could be used to customize the ads based on gender or age. Would that be too spooky (ala the taking billboards from Minority Report)?

The Internet Advertising Bureau has asked the web's two leading measurement firms to submit to an independent audit, according to MediaPost.

For internet advertising to become bigger than TV advertising, we will need trustworthy third party results that can deliver clicks, reach, and unique users. While web publishers can open their logs to auditors, advertisers are more comfortable with third parties, so impartial record keepers are necessary.

The IAB has criticized comScore and Nielsen/NetRatings for refusing to allow audits for nearly a decade. If these companies aren't willing to open their kimonos, perhaps another metrics firm will step forward as "the" source for online advertising. As the money gets bigger, so does the need to be able to backup your ratings, and I can imagine publishers frequently picking fights with these companies if they aren't happy with their ratings.