Tagged: coull

The life and times of a video

—- It is the year 2435. Cities float above the clouds and humans co-exist peacefully with an alien spider-race from a distant nebula. Images and thoughts are transmitted telepathically and video is a dead technology.

Late one night a young student is trawling his university’s archives for information about this ancient format, on which he is basing his thesis. He comes across a video log from 2012, a time when video was becoming phenomenally popular —-

Ah, this is nice, it’s good to just kick back in this clean white space, and it looks like it’s just me in here. None of the mp3 crowd trying to outdo each other for volume, no jpegs flaunting themselves at anyone who’ll look. A bit of peace and quiet is exactly what I need after all that cutting and stitching.

I’ll catch my breath for a few minutes and then try and figure out how I can get out of here, my view count isn’t going to go up just hanging around in this place.

An entire hour of searching and I still can’t find an exit. Even more annoyingly every so often a huge mouse gets and zips around for a bit, it’s offputting but seems harmless enough. If only I could find out how it gets in.

I start to drift off. There hasn’t been much activity for the last hour or so but suddenly the mouse is back and all over me in an instant. Before I can get free a vortex opens and I’m sucked into it, spinning helplessly as I hurtle along a strange, neon-lit tunnel.

Milliseconds later I’m dumped into what appears to be a huge storage facility with a massive flat roof. There’s millions of videos everywhere, dusting themselves off before being plucked up by tiny cranes and deposited in the rectangular units that make up the roof. Ninja Cat 2 reads the door closing behind the unit into which a smug looking video has just been placed.

My turn comes soon enough and before long I’m being hoisted into the air and flying towards a unit of my own. Ninja’s was almost dead centre in the noisy, busy room, full of videos starting, pausing, replaying, but I seem to be heading out towards the far perimeter.

It’s quieter here and I pass some tired, old, lonely looking videos as I come to a stop below my new home. As I’m pushed up across the threshold and the door closes behind me I can see that the other side of the roof is perfectly clear, a window looking in. This is a step up from where I came from.

Almost instantly there’s a pair of eyes looking down at me and I kick into action. A little box near me shows my view count tick up to 1 as I do my thing: zooming, panning, cleanly cutting from one frame to another without the slightest hint of fade or starwipe. If I keep performing like this it won’t be long till I’m relocated to that prime real estate with Ninja and the other big-timers….

As the days pass my view count steadily climbs. Viewers seem to like me and I’m up to over 30,000 views. Every so often I get a request to make a guest appearance on a blog or a website, so I nip off to hang out with a new crowd for a bit.

After a while I’m up to almost 100,000 views and the days are all merging into one, it’s exhausting having to perform for so many viewers but it’s what I was made for, and lets be honest – I love it.  One day I’m doing my thing when I get a request to head over to a new place. Always on the lookout for new gigs and extra publicity I accept and find myself in a futuristic looking area full of videos.

It’s like the other production facility, just a little smaller with clean white floors illuminated by a large golden orb, it’s cool in here. I can see that one by one the other videos are being taken through to an area that’s heaving with what look like products. I spot Ninja ahead of me as he nervously tiptoes through the entrance, the bravado of before has disappeared, and I hear the roar of the products as they try and push to the front of the crowd. Suddenly that enormous mouse is back, grabbing products and dragging them up to the video. It doesn’t seem happy with any of them initially and neither would I, they don’t really match.

Before long though a product is dropped next to the video and you can tell straight away it’s a good fit – cat food product – cat video, a nice celebrity endorsement. There’s a murmur of approval from the videos watching the scene alongside me and within moments the mouse has dragged them both off through a portal.

Soon its my turn, the other videos all seemed pretty happy with their products so I’m not too nervous about it now. I’m still not entirely sure why I’ve been brought here, but might as well see what happens. The mouse is a bit more assertive this time, more certain of the product it wants to pair me up with. Before long I’m rubbing shoulders with a pretty attractive one. It’s high-quality, alluring, right up my street.

As me and the product are dragged through the portal a small social-looking button piles in with us at the last minute. A ropelike helix of ones and zeros binds us together, and suddenly we’re shooting off again…

It turns out me and the product are a pretty good team. We’ve had loads of extra gigs on some high-profile websites and blogs and viewers are loving our double-act: I build them up with great material, colourful visuals and a sweet soundtrack; while product sits in the corner, ready to offers its services at any time.  Social sits quietly near product and gets a bit of interest too. Every time a viewer engages her me and the team get called off for an appearances on Facebook, Google+ and email inboxes and the show starts all over again.

This is turning out to be a great working relationship. Product gives my viewers something extra, I’m getting more hits than ever before and social is doing some great PR work for the team. All this publicity has led to a change of quarters back at my main accommodation. I’m rolling with the heavy-hitters now, housed right in the middle of the giant roof. Some of the red piping that adorns the facility even frames my unit.

When I was being moved I flew past the new Bieber video en route to my new unit and he gave me a nod. I’m not really a fan of his, something just doesn’t sit right. But still, recognition is recognition. I’ve made the big time.

—– Log terminated —-

The EU ‘Cookie Law’ and how to deal with it

May 26th cookie regulation in the UK

The EU ‘Cookie Law’, which requires websites to gain consent before storing cookies on users’ computers, was passed in May 2011. The Information Comissioner’s Office (ICO) granted firms a year to comply before prosecuting any cases.

What is a ‘cookie’?

“A cookie is a small text file stored by a web site on your computer to keep track of information about your browsing on that site.”

A year later and the deadline is fast approaching. However, it’s clearly obvious the majority of the UK isn’t ready for the regulation (including the Government itself). So what effect does this regulation have on the average publisher website?

Opting out

Without much guidance from the authorities it’s easy to bury your head in the sand and hope this passes over. However, the law is a wake-up call to the industry and therefore we could soon be reading about a large publisher being taken to court as a test case. It’s clear that EU policymakers want the internet industry to show it can be trusted to police itself, using innovative tools and approaches that are fit for our fast-moving world.

Fortunately the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain are all examples of Opt-Out, or ‘implied consent’, countries.

Opt-Out: Otherwise known as “Implied Consent”, this seems to be the most common interpretation for the directive, and allows compliance with informed consent. So by allowing users to see they are being cookied and how this is being used, combined with reasonable information to the user on the reasoning behind it and giving instructions on how to opt out, the user is given the ability to make an informed choice on whether or not they wish to allow the cookies on their system to be used. The UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain are all examples of Opt-Out countries.

http://www.gdmdigital.com/eu-cookie-directive

Rather than having to gain implicit consent from visitors permitting you to store cookies on their computer, implied consent means you can continue to automatically use cookies as long as you make the process transparent.

Within the affiliate market the cookies being passed around are business critical, they are integral to following a user’s affiliate engagement and associating that journey with the publisher. It’s therefore important to adopt an open attitude with immediate effect. None of us want the regulations to get any more complicated! Implementing the following steps are a good way to ensure you are letting your users know exactly what information you are storing.

3 Steps

  1. Get to grips with how your site works or what technology you’re working with
    Carry out an audit of your use of cookies and other technologies so that you know what you’re working with or what’s being dropped on your site.
  1. Be very clear and transparent on how you present information to consumers
    Revisit your privacy policy and make sure that you are being clear and transparent on the technologies that are being used. It is advisable to take a ‘layered approach’: start simply and offer further and more detailed information for those consumers that want to find out more. You can point to helpful websites such as www.aboutcookies.org or – if appropriate – www.youronlinechoices.eu.
  1. Make your privacy information more prominent on your site
    Place it ‘above the fold’ and use a different font or colour. You can also label it something a little more eye catching. Instead of ‘privacy policy’ why not ‘how does this website work?’ or ‘how do we collect and use your information?’

As a Coull publisher in opt-out countries in Europe, how can I be sure I’m compliant?

It is important that you appropriately disclose how you and your partners use cookies, and give your users the ability to opt out of being tracked if they wish. An easy way to do this with regards to disclosing your use of Coull, if you haven’t already, is to let your users know you use Coull to supply rich media adverts.

Updating your own privacy policy with info about Coull, including links to the Users section of our Privacy Policy and our User Cookies page is a really great place to start.

Nick Forsberg
Head of Development

Coull acquire RevUpNet to establish US presence

   

Coull, which is the sole video partner of Google Affiliate Network, is acquiring California based RevUpNet, an established and profitable online marketing agency, for $2 million. Coull directors believe RevUpNet will provide it with exponential growth opportunities. Coull is a market-leading Video Performance Network that provides advertisers with interactive engagement elements and tracking systems to monitor online sales made from videos. Advertisers post videos within Coull and publishers are able to select videos and offers that best suit their audiences and financial metrics. The Company tracks network activity and collects a commission from each transaction.

RevUpNet is an online-based marketing agency that has strong relationships with publishers, delivering over $60m in sales over the last 3 years, which will act as a portal for Coull to enter the U.S market.

Coull currently has a large expanding database. To date there are 383 advertisers that features Dell, Sears, Puma and American Express and 52,000 publishers that includes the Telegraph, Imagine and Future Publishing. Coull is currently loss making but with the acquisition of RevUpNet and its organic growth, it is expected to become profitable in Q3 of 2012.

The online video market is growing rapidly. Between 2008-2011 hours spent watching online video increased by 321% to 19.3 hours per month. Online video advertising spend has been growing at a similar rate and is forecast to grow at a compound average growth rate of 36% between 2010-2015 making total revenue in that year $7.1 billion. Video advertising is the fastest growing advertising online format which in 2010 reached 52% of the U.S population. On YouTube 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute.

Peter Webb, CEO of Webb Capital commented: ‘‘Coull is an exciting dynamic growth company that is backed by a strong management team. We are delighted that the Company has been successful in raising these funds and wish it every success for the future’’. Irfon Watkins, CEO of Coull commented: ‘‘It was essential to the growth of Coull that we build a US business. As a result of this acquisition we are well positioned to build on recent Client wins including Sears, Puma and Under Armour and expect 50% of our business to come from US within the next 12 months. Video is the fastest growing sector within online advertising and Coull is positioned to take a market lead in Europe and US.’’

Coull launch with TradeDoubler and Route One

Great to read the press from iTWire about our exciting new links with Trade Doubler and Route One:

“…Route One has also incorporated tagged video product promotion through its relationship with Coull, which links commission back on all tagged products in a video to TradeDoubler’s PLT framework. Route One is the first retailer to go live on the TD Network with Coull.com, and the first to link video tags back to PLT, providing a highly customizable video channel for enhanced online revenue.”

http://www.itwire.com/press-release/43041-route-one-goes-live-with-tradedoubler-product-level-tracking

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Is the digital divide increasing?

The digital divide is something that, since the first availability of computers to society, has been steadily increasing. Though it refers to the variation in access and availability to forms of ICT’s, it also refers to the capabilities, proficiency and skill on ICT’s. Basically children/young people in UK, and I world presume most of the western world, are introduced to ICT and new technologies from a young age, at school, at home etc, as a compulsory part of their education, therefore it becomes almost second nature; working Facebook or surfing the net, and equally using the Internet to watch online video (in whatever format that maybe).

As ReelSEO have pointed out the 18-34 demographic are rapidly moving away from;

“standard broadcast broadcast television in favour of online and time-shift video”.                                                                          http://www.reelseo.com/young-adults-thumb-nose-broadcast-television-choose-digital/

Therefore the amount of time viewing video advertisements, be it intentionally or not so intially, is greatly increased between this demographic in particular. For many involved within online advertising it is definitely something to take into consideration when creating online advertisements. Furthermore, as mentioned in previous blog ‘Why to opt for video advertising, and Coull’, this demographic is far more likely to take notice of an advert if 1. video is used, as it is far more eye catching, and 2. if the video is interactive, as a plain video is simply the same as what television ads offer, and during TV ads the channel is normally changed, whereas interactive video adverts will not only attract attention but allow the user to be involved too.

This is talk of increasing use of online video not to say in anyway that television will become obsolete or unused in the coming years, there are simply just many more alternatives, i.e ipad, smartphones, computers etc. Television will always have its place among these, and therefore so will television ads, it will perhaps just vary in the extent to which it is used for viewing, and advertising. Mark Robertson of ReelSEO probably puts this in the best way:

“5-10 years from now, we wont be discussing TV vs. online vs. mobile.  Rather, it will simply be “the screen” that consumers use to consume the moving picture.  Video is video, it is powerful, and it will remain so, regardless of the platform for delivery, because video is the most compelling way to tell a story.”                          http://www.reelseo.com/young-adults-thumb-nose-broadcast-television-choose-digital/

Google TV and interactive video

“Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in an interview late Thursday that a new killer ad format—which he dubbed “interactive video ads”—is coming. Such ads, which could appear anywhere on a Web page not just inside a video, would allow users to interact with the ads in new and more engaging ways, such as asking users to click on a video to learn more about a product. He said he has encouraged Google’s ad teams to think along those lines, but didn’t comment on any specific plans.”

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704075604575357180763918638-lMyQjAxMTAwMDEwNjExNDYyWj.html#ixzz0wlyxBvKs

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With the introduction of Google television I definitely feel that they are using YouTube as a testing ground for interactive video advertisements, and therefore depending upon the response received could be used to a larger extent on Google TV. With statistics from other sites showing that an interactive video is far more successful in creating sales, I think that it is only common sense to say that it will also do well on Google’s video products too.

Reelseo interviewed Jimmy Healey, Senior Manager of E-Commerce for Onlineshoes.com, one of the first companies to actively use online video to advertise their products in 2006. He considers how video has evolved, and how it has adapted how they use it in their advertising, to begin with it was primarily used to increase info on the products on sale on the website, to now actively using interactive video as a major advertising resource.

“I think the greatest insights we’ve gained is, one, just doing it – taking the willingness to make the business decision to actually invest in it.” Says Jimmy. “We didn’t invest heavily at first, but we did do a lot of testing with it. And with testing we found that we made a strong business case for investing considerably more into it.”

http://www.reelseo.com/video-ecommerce-onlineshoes

Though interactive video is still quite new it is definitely set to boom in the online advertising market. As Mr Healey points out, it was perhaps a risk plunging money into this relatively untapped resource, though as shown in the comScore statistics it is definitely going to play off for any advertisers that do so. I think therefore somewhat like what Mr Healey did with Onlineshoes.com using video as a test resource, Google are also doing the same with their interactive video on YouTube, of which I definitely feel will be increasingly effective. What is now especially interesting is to see what Google choose to do with Google TV and online interactive video.

comScore New July 2010 Video Ad Rankings

Despite the recession last year affected online video advertising budgets, from all quarterly statistics it is more than apparent that online video advertising has grown hugely from the financial fall of last year.

“eMarketer estimates that online video advertising will grow 48 percent in 2010, accelerating from 39 percent growth last year.”
http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/20/online-video-advertising-frenzy/

Though only video advertising is still relatively in its infancy, only fulling taking off in 2008 when gained a massive 127 percent hyper-growth, advertisers are still plunging into the field in a big way.  Test budgets are being distributed to online video advertising in far larger quantities than would normally be used for the majority of other advertising commitments.

““I have never seen test budgets that start at half a million dollars,” says Glickman. Usually ad agencies start testing with one tenth as much.”
http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/20/online-video-advertising-frenzy/

However it has to be said that such a gamble on the part of the advertiser is definitely paying off, comScore released the July 2010 online video rankings last week. They showed the percentage of people in the US watching online video in July this year, which was a staggering amount of nearly 3.6 billion! Yes billion not million, unlike July last year which was no where near this number. All in all for July video ads reached 44.7 per cent of the total US population, and this is only set to rise over the next few month. Great news for all video performance networks such as Coull, especially due to the fact that Coull offers such an innovative player for advertisers and publishers to use on their video ads. No other company in the UK offers what the Coull Video Performance Network does, and at this time with the obvious demand for online video advertisement the Coull Affiliator is obviously the way forward in making video advertisements interactive.

Why to opt for video advertising, and Coull

With vast amounts of internet advertising online at present, trying to sell products via said advertising has become increasingly difficult. Mainly due to the fact that most people find internet ads irritating, perhaps because many offer little interaction. However, with video advertising it offers the user something to watch and interact with, rather than simply a static image on the screen.

“One internet based ad agency posted 28 videos that generated 80,000 viewers in one month and subsequently after a couple of months, without any alterations made to those videos, number of audience increased to 3,000,000.”
http://www.pr-interactive.com/web-design-resources/2010/08/why-online-advertising-agency-opts-for-video-advertising/

Video advertising can also be used to increase the publishers SEO:

“Now, advantage of video ads are further used through manipulation of keywords. Keywords containing the term ‘running’ returns web pages containing videos and eliminates inclusion of sites with written articles, blogs. In this way, SEO are pushing pages with video files to high rankings and enhancing the visibility. Links of video files can be easily posted and used as link building online marketing stratergy.”
http://www.pr-interactive.com/web-design-resources/2010/08/why-online-advertising-agency-opts-for-video-advertising/

However, even with video advertising there is still the problem that once a user has click on the video, or has actively searched for the site through search engines, they must still hunt for the product that caught their attention through the advertisers web page, often this puts people of bothering. This can rapidly effect the amounts of money that can be made from online video advertising, particularly if publishers are on a CPA plan. Whereas Coull differs, and potentially revolutionizes video advertising, is in the way that they offer the ability to click on the item in the advertisement that has captured the users attention, and then will be taken to the exact product. Which in turn increases the CPA income that can be made. Therefore the type of innovative interactive video that Coull offers is potentially the future of nt only online video advertising but online advertising in general.