blinkx launches contextual ad platform for video

blinkx, the online video search engine, has launched a contextual ad platform that, they say, will do for video advertising what AdSense did for text-based advertising.

by Helen Leggatt

Called AdHoc, the platform will provide advertisers with control over the timing and appearance of video ads. Options include pre-, post- and mid-roll ad placement, dynamically selected banners, in-video mini-banners and a “post-roll catalog view”.

Using blinkx’s speech-to-text transcription, along with visual analysis technology, to understand video content, AdHoc matches ads most relevant to a video’s content.

"Until now, online video advertising was a kind of Frankenstein's monster - an attempt to cobble together technology that was built for Text Web banner advertising and apply it to an entirely new medium - the Video Web," said Suranga Chandratillake, blinkx founder and CEO.

"The AdHoc platform is revolutionary because it was built from the ground up to address rich media, resulting in higher monetization for media companies, more effective marketing for advertisers and, most importantly, a useful, non-disruptive experience for users," he added.

Partners won’t be limited to the blinkx AdHoc platform. External ad systems, such as Google’s AdWords or in-house databases, can be used.