QBurst

When Google announced its intentions to become a universal search engine in 2007, the very first step it took was to index all videos in the web. It seems, the web giant had predicted that video would be the pick of the world in search among all sources. Suranga Chandratillake took the same initiative when he started his video search website, Blinkx, which has today become the world’s largest single index of rich media content on the web and probably the best video search engine. Senior Analysts in eMarketer say that online video content is on a clear upward trajectory. The demographic range of the viewing population is expanding and the content mix is evolving from short, snack-type clips to long-form content such as TV shows and feature films.

The dominance of video has also made the web a great place for video advertisements. There are different advertising methods that are in existence. Let us explore them briefly.

Video Ad Methods

1.    In Stream Video Ads – The advertisement appears in the bottom or top of the video player when the video is streaming. Here is a sample.

In this sample, the advertisement is displayed on the top as the video streams.

2.    With Video Ads – Pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads constitute this method. The advertisements appear before, in the middle and after the streaming of the video respectively.

The sample below shows the advertisement being played in the entire section of the video player.

3.    Around Video Ads – This advertisement comes in video oriented sites in a variety of ad formats including standard text ads and image ads.

In the above sample, the publisher website Hulu has customized the surrounding areas of the video player for the advertisement that plays within the player.

Video Ad Production

Gone are the days when companies had to invest huge amount of money and time for video advertisements. Similar to the DIY (Do It Yourself) website creation tools, today we have DIY video ad creation tools. And these packages start from as low as $500. Few web companies provide huge database of already prepared advertising videos from which the customer can choose and customize.

There are also on-location ad production companies who come to the spot, shoot the video and do the customization. These methods are however complicated when compared with the DIY methods which specialize mostly in creating montages.

Video ads are short. The very lengthy ones could span to 60 seconds and they are very rarely made. Most of the ads are 15 to 30 seconds long.

Video Ad Distribution

When we think about video, the first picture that comes to our mind is television. So can we bring our web made advertisement into TV? If you have that question, the answer is yes. There are companies that function exclusively for this. The platform which they provide enables a customer to create a video ad, bid for TV spots and schedule airing time. Spotrunner was the company to pioneer this service. Soon to compete with them was Google. Now we have many companies which offer a similar platform and they distribute the video ad not only in TV but also in online TVs like Hulu, Veoh and various ad networks like YuMe, ScanScout and Right Media.

Video ads are also distributed in online advertising campaigns, business directory listings, Internet yellow pages, local search directories, online newspapers, video sharing sites, social networks, eCommerce sites, etc.

Are you a business owner finding difficulty in locating customers for your service? Maybe it’s time to invest in video ads.

In my previous article, we discussed all the video formats that are predominantly used in web. Here, we are going to see how these different formats are effectively delivered in the web. There are three methods that genuine developers have used so far to bring video into web. Let’s list them chronologically and get to know them in simple terms.

• Downloading

This traditional method is the one in which the user will have to wait for the file to download in his local machine and then play the file in a player. The user will not be able to view the video unless the file is downloaded completely. He must also choose the right player to play the file. Right player, in the sense: the one which understands the codec used by the video file.

Accomplishing this method in a webpage is pretty simple for a developer. He has to upload the file in the web server and provide a link to the file in the webpage. An alternate method is to embed the file in the webpage with a player using a HTML code. When the user clicks the link, the download begins. This method is commonly referred to as HTTP Streaming. This method is still used by a number of sites. And yes the point is it does not cause any trouble if the site traffic is low. One notable inability of this traditional method is that no live streaming can be done since there can never be a complete file during live transmission.

• Streaming

In the case of a streamed video, the file is sent to the end user in a continuous stream which allows him to watch the video as and when it reaches the local system. Streaming has gained so much popularity with live telecasts. When you browse through the web you will find podcasts and webcasts delivering video. Both of these use streaming method to deliver video. A webcast is mostly a single file that is played live or on demand whereas a podcast comes as a series and is delivered on demand. Another widely used streamed application in countries like US and UK is the internet television. Let’s break down streaming and get into the next level.

o   Progressive streaming

o   True streaming

Progressive streaming is used for on demand videos. If the video is delivered progressively, then the video file gets saved in the local system and plays from the local. Once the video is done playing, it will still be available for replay. This is not the case with true streaming which plays the file without saving it in the local. So once the player has completed playing once, it will not be further available for replay. A perfect example would be a live match that is telecasted through the internet.

Streaming is complex which could be understood only when tried. Protocol selection is one which could add to the complexity. Unicast protocols may be a feasible one for modest websites but more number of concurrent users could upset the system unless there is sufficient storage provided. Multicast protocols compel to forgo on demand function which might not be possible for all. UDP (datagram) may not be efficient as the others.

The data (video files) may be stored in-house or outsourced. Most of the companies outsource the complete process in order to avoid complexities. A few major products available to service video on web are FMS (Flash Media Server), Wowza, QTSS (Quick Time Streaming Server). This is another area which I will cover in my next article. Now we’ll move on to the next method.

• Progressive Downloading

The method of progressive download is similar to Streaming. However, this method uses a HTTP protocol. Also there is difference in how data is interpreted at the user’s end. YouTube.com uses progressive download for its video service. Gaining access to the video is also simple as the file is mostly saved in the temp folder. The file could be stolen by anyone and this has given rise to piracy and security problems. In the streaming method, a similar situation will not arise because at no time will the entire file be downloaded locally.

I hope to have put these video concepts in simple terms. Do contact me if you like to know more about video on web.

With the increasing number of video formats, the complexity in identifying the best format has also increased.  Compatibility, size, quality and affordability together determine the format that best suits for any requirement in the web.

A video format used in the web should be compatible with major browsers and Operating Systems. Major browsers include Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Safari. Major Operating Systems include Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. When it comes to size, the smaller, the better. And when it comes to quality, the higher, the better. The cost factor also plays an important role. I have summarized below, few recognized and used formats in the web with their pros and cons. Proper analysis of our requirement with the capability of the video format will help us to identify the best format for the requirement. These formats are developed and backed up by giants who continuously update and keep them to standards.

• WMV:

Windows Media Video (wmv) is developed and controlled by Microsoft. The video file is based on Microsoft Advanced Systems Format (ASF) container format and is compressed with Windows Media compression. The quality of the video is good and the file is also of low size. One major drawback is that the file runs only on Windows. Neither does it support Flash nor Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) standard.

• Quick Time:

Quick time (.mov) is developed by Apple Inc. The latest released version is 10.0. QuickTime is particularly suited for editing. It contains one or more tracks, each of which contains abstract data references for the media data. QuickTime also supports key standards for web streaming, including HTTP, RTP, and RTSP. Also, QuickTime supports every major file format for images, including JPEG, BMP, PICT, PNG, and GIF. QuickTime also features built-in support for digital video, including MiniDV, DVCPro, and DVCam camcorder formats, as well as support for AVI, AVR, MPEG-1, and OpenDML.

• Real Media:

Real media was the first streaming technology on the market. However, Real media still trails Flash when it comes to smooth playback of high-impact interactive multimedia. Web developers have begun to use the Real System G2 and SMIL to stream synchronized multimedia presentations over the Web. This in turn is promoting a wider usage of real media by the developers in the web.

• Macromedia Flash:

Flash is often referred to as the best solution to web media. However, its unfriendliness with search engines has always left it behind. Flash generates high-impact web multimedia with short sound effects and loops. Formerly called as Future Splash, the Flash company was later acquired by Macromedia in 1997. With Flash, users can also draw their own animations or import other vector-based images.

• MPEG-4:

Developed in 1998, MPEG-4 was specially designed to play streaming media file with high quality in the web. MPEG stands for Moving Picture Experts Group and is managed by ISO (International Organization for Standardization). MPEG-4 is a proprietary technology; it requires licensing in order to be used. AT&T claims to have the patent rights for MPEG. But Apple and a number of other video content providers are continuously working on MPEG along with their technologies.

Stay tuned for my next blog in which, I plan to explain the different methods that are available to deliver these formats on the web.