Not so long ago the unauthorised sharing of copyrighted video content on sites like YouTube was categorised by many content owners as a clear danger to their business. But things are starting to change as media owners and online video sites get more savvy about how to work with the social and sharing aspects of the web.
"Media entertainment products are incredibly social," says Michael Comish, chief executive of on-demand video platform Blinkbox, which offers its users selected video clips of its pay-to-view films and TV shows for free. "The question is how to tap into the communities online to increase revenue. Experience clearly shows that the more people meet and engage around content, the more they will buy."
To that end Blinkbox encourages users to take clips of TV shows and use an application on the site to turn them into personalised e-greeting messages that can be emailed to their friends.
Traditionally, content owners have hoped to generate revenue either from users paying for content or brand owners advertising around it. So faced with rampant, unauthorised online use of their copyrighted material, the owners reacted by blocking access to it.
But this approach is starting to change. As new tools allow unauthorised content to be more easily tracked down, content owners are deciding to try to work with the internet rather than against it.
Long known as one of the biggest sites for pirated video, YouTube is changing its strategy, signing deals with broadcasters like Channel 4 and Five to offer their shows surrounded by advertising. The site has also developed Content ID, a tracking system that measures how much copyrighted content there is on the site even in user-generated videos that may only have a few frames of pirated material from, say, a Disney film or an MTV music video.
"The content owner defines how much of his content is required to trigger a response," says Matt Wiseman, YouTube Content ID product manager. "It's more robust than watermarking in finding "transformed video" which has taken copyrighted material and mixed it with other things to make something new."
Once identified, the content owner can decide to block the unauthorised video, leave it but monitor it, or serve ads around it. Increasingly media owners are deciding not to block the video but earn money out of it by putting an ad next to it. "We have 1bn monetisable views in a week and that has more than tripled over the last year," says Wiseman. "We're able to turn a piracy threat into a revenue opportunity."
There were tens of thousands of unauthorised Monty Python clips illegally uploaded by fans on to YouTube, but instead of asking YouTube to block the videos, an authorised Monty Python channel was created by YouTube on the site that also has a click-through to iTunes where Monty Python shows are available as paid downloads. The approach has worked: a comparison of Amazon sales in the US directly after the channel's launch in November 2008 showed Monty Python DVD sales rising a staggering 23,000%.
"Controlling unauthorised content is still important to maximise the revenue you can derive from video online," says Ashley Mackenzie, chief executive of digital distribution business MyVideoRights. "The difference now is the growing acceptance that the kids using your content without your permission can often be your greatest ambassadors."
Richard Costa-D'sa, director of Jam, a social media unit set up by digital agency i-level, points to the lessons that content owners can learn from affiliate marketing – a common web tool which allows businesses to reward each other for each customer visit generated by another site. "I believe we're heading towards an affiliate model where brokers for content owners place video bundled with ads on certain sites or blogs and then pay those third parties according to how much traffic they can generate."
He says that advertisers are also increasingly turning to video to create communities online. Brands are developing bespoke online video content around their products, which gives consumers "a reason to engage with them".
Forrester analyst Nick Thomas says: "With most online video content still struggling to generate serious revenues in its own right, the idea that online video has a role to play promoting other types of revenue-generating schemes is a lesson for all. Rather than ask how to monetise my content online, a more salient question is: what role does online play in the life cycle of my content?"
Weblink
Monty Python Youtube channel: youtube.com/user/MontyPython
