Gotuit, Move Networks Integrate Technologies, Deploy Solution with XONtv

Gotuit Media--a company that offers metadata technologies which, among other things, allow end-users to instantly access the parts of a piece of video that interest them, and which can also be used by video publishers to allow end-users to make mash-ups out of their content (note: earlier this year, the company filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, claiming that the latter's Silverlight technology infringes on its patents)--and Move Networks--a Utah-based company which offers patent-pending technologies for delivering live and on-demand HD-quality broadband video (its technologies are used by, among others, ABC, Discovery Communications, ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros.)--have formed an integration partnership and deployed a solution with their first joint-customer: XONtv, a broadband video portal that offers several thousand hours of outdoors-related programming.

According to the companies, the integration of their technologies enables Gotuit's system for defining targeted advertising insertion points and flexible ad-serving logic to be used with video libraries published in Move Networks' video format. Move Networks bills its platform as enabling the delivery of live and on-demand programming to millions of viewers without buffering and stalling; Gotuit, meanwhile, bills its platform as enabling broadband video publishers to author structured metadata describing each scene within the original source videos: according to the company, this metadata defines the optimal in-stream video ad insertion points, allowing publishers greater control and flexibility with their advertising strategy; in addition, the company claims, the ads served in the precise insertion points can be targeted by third-party ad providers, based on the scene metadata such as Character Name, Player Name, Topic and Keyword. Banner or overlay ads can also be targeted based on the rich metadata that its platform enables, the company says.

Move and Gotuit claim that customers who take advantage of their integration will enjoy greater ad logic flexibility: rather than just pre- and post-rolls for each asset, the companies say, customers will be able to set their ad logic to utilize mid-roll insertion points. The publisher will set the ad timer, and the Gotuit-Move solution will play an ad at the next available insertion point, no matter which asset or scene is being viewed, after the timer has expired. According to the companies, the result is that the viewer has the freedom to sample more assets and navigate directly to the most interesting scenes, while the publisher is able to monetize that experience in the most effective way possible. In summary, the companies claim that their integration 1) optimizes monetization due to precise ad-insertion points, flexible ad logic, and the ability to target both in-stream and in-page advertising using rich scene-level metadata; 2) drives better viewer engagement due to the improved presentation of the video library with multiple navigation paths through which viewers can personalize their experience; and 3) improves the viewer experience by enabling viewers to get directly to the scenes inside the video that interest them. "Radical changes in the way that people access and consume video content are driving both viewers and advertising revenues to the Internet," Move CEO, John Edwards, said in a prepared statement. "Move's technology has been designed to deliver the best viewer experience allowing media companies to stream high-definition video, increase viewer engagement and better monetize their assets. Our partnership with Gotuit, and their unique approach to harnessing the power of rich metadata, provides the publisher additional avenues to monetize that experience."