Strategy Verdict - Blinkx

purchase of YouTube by advertising giant Google. So Blinkx's move into
advertising looks like a great strategic decision - and one that could
make it lots of money.

However, agency types like me would like to see potential issues
addressed before fully subscribing to the idea of video advertising. The
first and probably the most obvious is the selection criteria. Can
brands and agencies control and select the sites in the same way that we
allow the search engines to choose the content in which their ad appears
- as is possible on Google's network? For obvious reasons, some brands
will want to be selective about where their ads are displayed.

A second potential issue relates to language. How good is the Blinkx
platform at matching dialogue and narrative to exact meaning? For
example, how many times have we read words such as "what a brilliant
service" as a great third-party endorsement only to realise it was
actually meant sarcastically.

As an industry, we have enough trouble matching our ads on search
engines, where phrases are much shorter and more precise.

If I were representing a large brand, eBay for example, I would want to
be in control or at the very least be totally assured of the controls
within the engine. Without such controls, nothing stands in the way of
the feckless few looking to have some fun with all that user-generated
content. It may be the start of a new wave of great virals focused on
the advertisers that fuel and fund the growth of platforms such as
Blinkx.

It is here now and no doubt will be massively valuable to
advertisers.

One only has to look at dwelling times on video content sites to realise
this. Just don't tell me it's moderated.

- Review by Matt Mills, director of search marketing, Unite (part of the
Equi=Media Group).