VideoEgg

[ 2008.02.20 | Press Release ]

Microsoft First to Deploy Pioneering Ad Model Priced by Audience Engagement

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. Feb. 20, 2008 – VideoEgg Inc., the leading video advertising network for online communities, is launching the AdFramesSM Brand Response Network, an innovative program that provides advertisers a more measurable way to reach highly engaged consumers using video and rich media.

To date, advertisers buy online inventory based on impression, spending a set amount per thousand delivered views, what’s known as CPM. While CPM provides reach and potential, it lacks accountability and forces a high level of risk onto advertisers to determine ad effectiveness. AdFrames allows advertisers to negotiate a price for engagement, a more valuable indicator of consumer interest, and an approach that will help reframe the focus of the industry from quantity to quality.

“Advertisers need to move beyond the metrics of eyeballs and evolve from ‘how many’ to ‘how good,’” said Troy Young, CMO of VideoEgg, the company that pioneered the video ad overlay. “AdFrames leverages our keen understanding of how to drive engagement with innovative ad units and takes risk away from the advertiser. It offers advertisers a predictable approach to distributing highly targeted video and rich media content.”

Microsoft will be one of the first companies to use AdFrames and to benefit from VideoEgg’s accountable brand advertising model. The company plans to use AdFrames to distribute video content promoting Microsoft Office. The product is a natural fit for the marketing program, offering a systematic solution to push out Microsoft’s long-form, entertaining brand content featuring comedian Amy Sedaris. The ads will run across the Eggnetwork which includes hundreds of social sites and applications.

“VideoEgg’s AdFrames approach allows us to deliver high-impact video messaging to an engaged audience, helping us to reach our media objectives, effectively and efficiently,” said Jamie Conner, Media Manager with Microsoft.

The AdFrames solution distributes video or rich media through an innovative, expandable ad unit that can be dynamically formatted to fit any size on a page, widget or online game. This flexibility will enable publishers to better integrate the ad message into their environment. Importantly, Adframes will align incentives across the delivery network by compensating publishers on user engagement. Engagement doesn’t begin until a user rolls over the ad, and the AdFrame Invitation has expanded into an overlay. AdFrames includes a countdown during the roll-over to ensure the user is not engaging with the ad inadvertently.

“Our goal is to bring rich media advertising into the meebo platform and maintain flexibility—the flexibility to deliver a variety of ad experiences,” said Martin Green, Vice President, Business for meebo, the Web's live interaction platform with a monthly reach of 24 million users. “VideoEgg will help us create ad experiences that work for our users, and we get paid when consumers engage. It makes a lot of sense for everyone."

Additionally, because VideoEgg manages the entire process, advertisers avoid paying further money to third-party rich media companies that traditionally format the advertising assets—a transaction that can account for 10-20 percent or more of the advertiser’s cost.

“We see tremendous opportunity to use pages, games and widgets to deliver video experiences inside of a brand-focused performance-based ad solution,” said Matt Sanchez, CEO of VideoEgg. “Video is the richest, most effective way to deliver brand messages.”

AdFrames is the latest innovation from the EggnetworkSM, which provides rich media cross leading social networking environments, video sites and gaming applications. Publishers get great brands and dynamic ad sizes, while the consumer has the opportunity, through VideoEgg’s respectful, invitation-based approach, to interact with powerful brand messages. VideoEgg will also continue to provide the classic Eggnetwork model, which is based on targeted CPM-based media buys.

For a demo of the product, go to www.videoegg.com/adframes

About VideoEgg, Inc.
VideoEgg, the leading video ad network for online communities, has developed an extensive audience network that connects brands and content owners with people through an invitation-based rich media approach to advertising. An advertising innovator, VideoEgg was the first to commercialize interactive advertising overlays onto video, an approach that is being widely adopted by the industry. The Eggnetwork is composed of more than 200 top video and gaming sites, social networks and applications, bringing outstanding consumer reach and engagement to its advertising partners. Founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, with offices in the United Kingdom and New York City, the company is privately held and backed by August Capital, First Round Capital, Maveron, WPP and Focus Ventures. For more information on VideoEgg, please visit www.videoegg.com.

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AdFrames, VideoEgg and Eggnetwork are trademarks, servicemarks or registered trademarks in the United States and other countries. All other brands, names, or trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

VideoEgg PR Contact:
Suzi Owens, Blanc & Otus (U.S.)
(415) 856-5125 / sowens@blancandotus.com

Reva Seth, Blanc & Otus (U.K.)
+44 (0) 207 413 3338 / rseth@blancandotus.com