YouTube Looking For Indie Bands
March 17, 2010
YouTube has expanded its partner program and has introduced "Musicians Wanted" aimed at getting independent bands or artists to submit music videos to the site.
Interested independent bands or artist can apply for Musicians Wanted through YouTube's Partner Program. Those who are accepted will have their own page where they can add details about where they will be playing, provide links to buying music and showcase their music videos.
Independent artists will also share YouTube's advertising revenue generated by their music video plays as well as when videos are embedded on other websites, such as music blogs.
The YouTube Blog offers more details. "So whether you make hip-hop, folk, noise-rock, jazz or a genre of your own invention, we are looking for all types of original music video content."
"One thing to keep in mind is that right now this program only supports video content by U.S.-based artists, though there are plans to roll out the program more widely in the future."
AOL Shares Financial Results of the Transition Period
February 3, 2010
AOL has announced it Q4 earnings, which show how the company performed during its final days as part of Time Warner, as well as the beginning of its transition to the current incarnation.
"We have made significant progress in support of the long-term vision we see in the future of AOL, but today's results continue to reflect the need for our focus and execution on the work required in the turnaround of the Company," said Chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong. "2009 marked the closing of an important chapter in AOL's history and the opening of a new chapter that we are passionately pursuing. We have a clearly defined strategy, and we enter 2010 incredibly focused on day-to-day execution."
Here's the summary:
AOL says Q4 revenue declines reflect continued attrition in the subscriber base, leading to declines in subscription and search & contextual revenue. While AOL Properties global display advertising revenue declined 3%, AOL Properties domestic display advertising revenue grew 1%, its first quarter of year-over-year growth in eight quarters. Other noteworthy items as highlighted by the company include:
- Q4 costs of revenues declined at a lower rate than revenue reflecting a 12% increase in traffic acquisition costs (TAC) primarily associated with payments for shipments related to a significant product distribution arrangement. As of December 31, 2009, new shipments under this contract ceased.
- Full-year and Q4 2009 Adjusted OIBDA, operating income and pre-tax income include $190 million and $107 million, respectively, in restructuring costs and certain other items fully discussed on page 8 of this press release.
- We anticipate our restructuring efforts will reduce ongoing operating expenses, excluding TAC and net of incremental operating investments in the business, by approximately $150 million in 2010.
- Full-year and Q4 2008 operating loss and net loss reflect a $2.2 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge.
- Full-year cash provided by operations declined, driven by Adjusted OIBDA declines. The cash flow impact of these declines was partially offset by the timing of working capital changes, including lower employee bonus payments in 2009. Full-year 2009 Free Cash Flow grew slightly, reflecting reduced capital expenditures in 2009. Q4 2009 cash provided by operations and Free Cash Flow declined due to the settlement of a legal matter and a Value Added Tax matter in France.
- AOL had $147.0 million of cash-on-hand as of December 31, 2009, and has not borrowed under the terms of our revolving credit facility, as of February 2, 2010.
Further details and charts can be found here in the release. It will really be interesting to see the report a year from now after AOL has settled into its new role on the web.
Have You Read This?
> AOL Acquires Video Creation/Distribution Company StudioNow
> AOL Top Ad Network In December
> Tim Armstrong Weighing Search Deal With Microsoft
TVGuide.com Taps PubMatic To Boost Ad Revenue
December 15, 2009
TVGuide.com has tapped ad firm PubMatic in an effort to boost its advertising revenue.
"PubMatic has significantly decreased the operational burden of managing multiple ad networks and simultaneously helped us eliminate inefficiencies in our remnant advertising pricing," said Ian Wallin, Vice President, Online Ad Sales, TVGuide.com. "We've enjoyed working with them."
TVGuide.com reaches 21 million unique users per month, and as part of its strategy to stand out from the competition, the website offers online video, news community and TV listing in one location.
The website's online video guide allows users to watch almost any TV episode from all the major broadcast and cable television networks. The site is currently in the top spot of comScore's TV and entertainment category for attracting the most engaged users who average five visits per month, 13 minutes per visit and 18 page views per person.
"As the economy rebounds, publishers are increasingly focused on premium sponsorship opportunities and looking for a trusted partner to manage their non-guaranteed inventory," said Rajeev Goel, PubMatic Co-Founder and CEO. "We built PubMatic to serve the needs of publishers, and as a result we're increasing revenue for the world's largest publishers including TVGuide.com, Huffington Post, eBay, and many more."
Have You Read This?
> Google to Serve Ads Based on Browsing History
> 7 Behavioral Targeting Privacy Principles
Online Ad Revenues On the Rise
November 26, 2009
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers released their latest Internet advertising numbers for the third quarter. According to the organizations, Internet advertising revenues reached nearly $5.5 billion for the quarter. That is an increase of 1.7% from the second quarter.
The numbers are still significantly down from the same period last year, but any increase is a good sign of things to come. There has been a 5.4% decline from last year.
"The Internet has transformed the consumer experience of media, providing marketers with unprecedented opportunities to engage with their customers," said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. "The advertising sector overall has been hard hit by the economy, but digital media has been a bright spot within the larger economic downturn as it is capturing an ever-increasing piece of marketers’ advertising spend."
"While all segments of the media industry have experienced declines, online advertising remains resilient and is once again showing signs of growth," said David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
The information from the IAB/PWC is considered the most accurate measurement of interactive ad revenue, the IAB says, because its compiled directly from info supplied by companies selling advertising on the web. The IAB releases a full report twice a year to reflect half-year periods. It will be interesting to see how the second half of the year plays out in its entirety.
Have You Read This?
> Online Advertising is Having a Big Year
> Online Ad Revenue Tops $10 Billion
> IAB Releases Ad Unit Guidelines Update
