Interactive media company Overlay.TV
has released a new video platform that makes video customisable, interactive and easily monetised.
The Overlay.TV platform enables ev
ery-day video publishers to place ?overlays? (be it text, pictures or animations) anywhere on the video. Overlays can be turned on or off by the user, but when clicked on will take the viewer through to more information. For example, if you are watching a video of
Mary Kate Olsen and you like the handbag she is carrying, if the publisher places an overlay on the handbag you can click on it to learn more about it and then purchase it.
The Canadian company has already signed on more than 600 e-commerce partners including Amazon, iTunes and Wal-Mart.
Overlay.TV?s president, Rob Lane says that by linking publishers, viewers and marketers their platform is transforming user-generated-content (UGC) to an interactive e-commerce vehicle.
Lane comments, ?We?re empowering a whole new generation of publishers with a user-friendly platform that will help them discover entirely new business models. The advertising industry has significantly shifted from traditional channels to web advertising. With the ubiquity of social networks, consumer-created advertising has more power and influence than anything produced by industry professionals.?
Video publishers can customise their video on the Overlay site, and then embed the video anywhere they choose; including blogs, websites and social networking sites such as
YouTube,
MetaCafe,
MySpace,
Google Video and
Yahoo! Video or send it via email or post to social bookmarking sites including
del.icio.us and
Digg.
?By putting the user at the centre of the online video revolution, Overlay.TV has enabled the fusion of consumer created advertising and non-intrusive, but active participation by online video viewers. This has created one of the most compelling and comprehensive models in the online advertising industry. The Overlay.TV platform has pioneered how digital content can be enhanced, shared and monetized,? says Lane.
There is also an Overlay.TV Facebook application allowing a ?single sign-on? and seamless use across Facebook and the Overlay.TV website. The
Overlay.TV group on Facebook explains, ?Overlay.TV lets you create content and add it to your own video, or to video taken from popular video-sharing sites. Make up your own commentaries and quips and place it right on top of the video. Add cool graphics, or link stuff in the video to sites where you can shop or get just more info. Want Control? This is Your Playground.?