Blinkx to distribute ad-supported original programming

By Giselle Tsirulnik

June 26, 2008

Search in the blink of an eye

Mobile video search engine blinkx has partnered with On Networks to distribute ad-supported original programming.

Under the terms of an agreement, blinkx will use its AdHoc platform to place contextually relevant advertising against the footage, sharing ad revenue with On Networks. Blinkx works with different agencies to place advertisements from a variety of Fortune 500, regional and local companies against the content.

"Blinkx is able to deliver more accurate search results because its technology can see inside the video and know exactly what the content is," said Suranga Chandratillake, founder/CEO of blinkx, San Francisco. "This same technology can be applied toward making ads more targeted to the videos [that] users are watching.

"By understanding the context of video clips, blinkx's advertising platform, AdHoc, is able to offer highly targeted TV-style ads, resulting in more effective marketing for advertisers, higher monetization for media partners and, most importantly, an engaging, contextually relevant and non-disruptive video experience for consumers," he said.

On Networks offers more than 30 shows across multiple topics, from the history of videogames on "Play Value" to creative cocktail-mixing with "Cocktails on the Fly."

Blinkx claims it is the smartest way to search new forms of content such as video.

Blinkx works with more than 350 partners and uses its speech-recognition technology to search 26 million hours of indexed video and audio content, including favorite TV moments, news clips, short documentaries, music videos and video blogs.

This partnership provides blinkx with access to On Networks' content. On Networks benefits from access to a wider range of consumer segments.

Also, the deal is designed to make Blinkx more easily accessible and available to audiences all over the mobile and worldwide Web..

On Networks also benefits from using blinkx's AdHoc technology and, through placing contextually relevant ads against the footage, will be able to share resulting ad revenue.

AdHoc is a contextual advertising platform for video, designed to enable blinkx's media partners to place relevant advertising against their video content on the mobile Web and the Internet. Blinkx's AdHoc platform matches customized, TV-style ads to video audiences on the Web.

"This partnership will address challenges for On Networks and their advertisers looking for new ways to reach consumer targets," Mr. Chandratillake said.