Posted 11/14/08 at 11:40:46 AM by Paul Lilly

YouTube might not ever be the cash cow Google hoped it would be when it purchased the video sharing site for $1.65 billion, but it won't be from lack of trying. The latest money making scheme being rolled out is a new ad platform YouTube is calling Sponsored Videos.

Sponsored Videos will let users promote their videos by bidding on keywords, whether those users be individuals or corporations. To help with the process, Google has created automated tools for users to place their bids for the keywords they want. As surfers type in those keywords, YouTube will display the tagged videos next to the search results. The new feature seems like an obvious one, so what took YouTube so long to implement it?

"In hindsight, it is a natural transition for YouTube to make," said Matthew Liu, a YouTube product manager. "We've been working on this for months. The key was, we wanted to make sure we got it right. There are a lot of intricacies involved. YouTube is a video discovery platform. We've been integrating with Google AdWords for some time, and now we're at a place where it can be win and win."

The Sponsored Videos will be clearly labeled when they appear following a keyword search and come priced on a cost-per click formula.

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Posted 11/13/08 at 11:31:41 AM by Paul Lilly

YouTube superstars will soon have a chance to become, um, YouTube super-duper stars as the video sharing sites gets ready to dive into live programming. YouTube Live, as the show is being called, will kick off on November 22 in San Francisco and feature recognizable stars like Will.i.Am and singer Katy Perry, along with talents from the the likes of 20-year-old Esmee Denters known for her amateur videos singing cover versions of popular songs.

"The value of YouTube is we've created this platform that's been driven by the community, so this is in reaction to that," said YouTube spokesman Chris Di Cesare. "Having a community event that the community values benefits all involved."

Roughly 50 entertainers responsible for more than 2.5 billion video views are scheduled to appear on YouTube Live. The Google-owned video sharing site also said it plans to hold follow-up events to YouTube Live, but made no mention of what those events might entail.

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Posted 10/16/08 at 02:55:53 PM by Paul Lilly

Forget about the fight between DVD and Blu-ray, Playboy has decided to leave physical media behind altogether. Instead, the company best known for its articles (you do read Playboy for the articles, right?) will focus solely on digital distribution, according to the company's regulatory filing. The move is expected to save Playboy about $12 million a year in expenses.

Shedding its DVD operation will result in the loss of 80 jobs an $2 million in restructuring charges. Combined with an additional $4 million taken against archival materials and a receivable, Playboy expects to take a total of $6 million in charges against operating income resulting in a net loss for the third quarter.

Despite the initial net loss, Christie Hefner, the company's chairman and chief executive, wrote in a memo to all Playboy employees that the goal is to return the company to profitability in 2009. In addition to migrating to digital distribution, savings will come from cutting overtime, travel, and entertainment.

Almost makes you not want to work at Playboy. Almost. 

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Posted 07/17/08 at 01:04:06 PM by Paul Lilly

This time last year, most of us would have predicted that Blu-ray and HD-DVD would still be going at it, but even with a victor now declared in the high definition format war, digital downloads and streaming content are ruling the roost, just as Michael Bay prophesized (minus the corporate conspiracy theory). Hoping to become king of the digital hill, Amazon.com is introducing a new online store of TV shows and movies.

What's that you say, Unbox isn't new? That's right, but this isn't Unbox. Amazon Video on Demand departs from the company's first attempt at offering a digital video download service, and this time around, customers will not be required to download special software to the watch programs they buy. And in another departure from Unbox, the new service will extend support beyond just Windows PCs and TiVo set-top boxes.

Find out what else Amazon Video on Demand brings to the table and when it will be available after the jump.

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windows, Software, movies, amazon, videos, tv shows, video on demand