Now you can! All you have to do is select a video from your library and create a new “clip” from that orginal video. The new clip is a completely new video within the library. You can also add an “End Screen” to the newly created clip. Watch a video of this new feature:

Today is the start of a new phase for the team at Delve Networks.  We have been acquired by Limelight Networks (read press release).  Our entire team, including myself, will be joining Limelight Networks where we will become the Video Platform Solutions business unit.

Last Thursday, Limelight’s CEO, Jeff Lunsford, flew up to our Seattle headquarters (see flight videos) to celebrate with members of the Delve team (see photo below); it was a fantastic experience and we are all fired up. Limelight’s team culture, vision, and philosophy are very similar to our own and we feel this is a great fit. They value customer relationships first, think at ‘Internet scale,’ and do a great job of making the very complex seem easy.

Even though we are now part of Limelight, all of the things that matter to you will stay the same. We’ll still deliver a powerful, yet easy to use, online video platform with content management, analytics, monetization, player customization, and rich APIs. We’ll continue to provide the same level of support we’ve always delivered. And we’ll still work with CDN partners beyond Limelight Networks for content delivery in keeping with our belief that open ecosystems are important.

What’s new is that we’ll now have access to more resources. As Delve, we built an award wining product and signed up over 120+ customers, such as, Cleveland Clinic, American Hospital Association, ESPN, CDW, Standard & Poor’s, Hallmark, Lego, World Vision, and several professional sports organizations (see customer showcase). We’ve manage to grow our business with far less resources than many of our competitors, which is a testament to our team’s talent, commitment and determination.

Now that we’re joining Limelight we can accelerate our growth, better service larger customers, and enjoy the benefits of Limelight’s global sales organization. Limelight has an unparalleled presence around the world and the capacity to transport huge amounts of content over its intelligent delivery platform. Adding Limelight’s global infrastructure to Delve’s video platform offering increases our ability to scale and innovate for our customers.

To all of our customers, employees, investors, and partners, thank you for helping us succeed in an industry that has grown rapidly in recent years. We’re very excited about the opportunities for innovation ahead, and look forward to doing great things as part of Limelight Networks.

Onwards and Upwards!!

Sincerely,
Alexander Castro
Vice President & General Manager, Video Platform Solutions
Limelight Networks

Introduction to Monetizing Online Video
Presenter: Reed Terry – Director of Marketing: Delve Networks
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Transcript of ‘Introduction to Monetizing Online Video’

There are many different monetization models publishers are adopting to profit from video content. During this webinar we will discuss 3 of them—pay-per-view, subscription-based services, and advertising supported content.

Some publishers will choose to monetize their videos as downloads. In this case a user can pay a fee for the video and then will receive a link to download a copy of the file itself. Pay-per-download works particularly well with content that the user may want to transfer to other devices like an iPod, video player, mobile phone, or another computer. This option also allows the user to access the content without being connected to the Internet. Once the user pays for the download, they own that file and can do with it what they please.

The Pay-Per-View Download monetization model has a number of advantages to the consumer: 1) You own the video – Much like owning a DVD, once you have a downloaded movie, you can play it over and over and over. When my children were young, I was bewildered by the fact that they could watch a movie several times within a single week and if they really like it, they will watch it several times within a single day. 2) Can be played anytime 3) And you don’t need to be connected to the Internet – Again, just like owning a DVD, you can watch your downloaded video anytime and anywhere. And since the video is on your hard drive rather than on a DVD, you don’t have to deal with the annoying DVD noise as the drive spins up and down. 4) Can be moved to any device – My granddaughter likes to watch Disney movies on her mother’s iPhone when they are traveling in the car, or anywhere she needs to be entertained, so this is a great convenience.

Pay-per-view download offers a clear advantage to the publisher; A single transaction and you are done. Analytics and revenue recognition are pretty straightforward when someone purchases a single video. One disadvantage to the publisher is that the downloaded video file can be shared illegally if you have not enabled file level protection.

Pay-per-stream allows viewers to pay a fee to have access and view a video stream. This model is often used for live events however it is not limited to live events and can also be used with pre-recorded on-demand content. Typically, in this case once the
stream has been completely viewed the user is unable to watch it again without paying another fee. Some publishers may allow the user to watch the stream again for a specified time limit—essentially renting the content much like people rent movies today.

Pay-per-view streaming has many advantages to the consumer: 1) It is generally more affordable than a downloaded video due to the single use or limited time use scenario. Since a publisher assumes that a downloaded video will likely be viewed by many, they will price them higher than a streaming video that will likely be viewed by a limited audience. 2) Streaming video can be watched instantly, even at HD quality so the user doesn’t have to wait for long downloads that could potentially become interrupted. 3) If the online video platform provider supports dynamic streaming with their video players like Delve Networks does, then the player delivers the appropriate bit rate based on network speed and computer type. This ensures the best viewing experience for the consumer regardless of connection or processor.

Pay-per-view streaming offers publishers the advantage of protecting the intellectual property of the video since the user cannot download the video file for sharing. A disadvantage to the publisher is that they typically have to offer the video at a lower cost to the consumer compared to a downloaded video due to the limited time use scenario related to streaming video.

Here are a few tips to be successful when monetizing videos with the pay-per-view model: Have compelling previews of content. Much like watching movie trailers in the theatre, you want to know what the show is about before you pay your admission. Provide users a way to know what they are paying for so that is assures them that they are making a wise purchase. Just like the movie studios do, be sure to put the best clips from the video in the trailer so viewers get excited to see the full video.

Charge a fair price. If you want users to continue to come back and make repeat purchases make sure you are charging a price that is aligned with the user’s expectations. Loyalty also equals viral marketing.

One of our customers monetizing through the pay-per-view revenue model is Yoga Today. They produce instructional videos targeted to health conscious adults. On their home page they have an assortment of free videos that you can preview.

You can also navigate through their library of videos to find specific yoga instruction. This example preview lasts 1 minute and 18 seconds and streams at a low bit rate. To the right you can see that you can purchase this video for $3.99. This gives you access to the entire 57 minute video in high-definition video.

Another way publishers are monetizing video is by offering a subscription-based service.

Similar to how cable television works today; viewers pay a monthly fee (this could also be yearly or seasonal) for unfettered access to all of the content the publisher has to offer. The subscription could offer either downloads or streaming video.

Consumers find monetizing videos using subscriptions to be advantageous because they can access a greater selection of content than purchasing each piece individually which typically translates to a better value. Subscriptions also often include unlimited use of the videos so consumers can watch a video multiple times without incurring additional costs.

One of the main reasons that publishers use the subscription model is that they are able to justify a larger fee versus selling lower priced single videos.

Another benefit of monetizing through subscriptions is that it allows publishers to have a constant revenue stream from subscribers throughout the duration of their subscription agreement. This makes revenue more predictable than the pay-per-view model since it provides monthly recurring revenue.

Using the subscription monetization model can also help increase brand loyalty and stickiness to the website. Since subscribers will likely return repeatedly to the site, publishers have an ideal opportunity to build a positive relationship that may translate to the subscriber recommending the brand to others, and/or purchasing additional products.

Again, with all monetization models for video content, give users the ability to see what they are going to get. Some sites have found it compelling to offer teasers of content—either in the form of short previews or a selection of full-length content in limited video quality to entice new users to purchase a subscription of the fuller and richer content. You can also do this by offering a trial of the service, such as “one week free”.

Set up subscriptions to auto-renew. This provides a hassle free way for current subscribers to continue to access the publishers content and gives the publisher a more predictable stream of recurring revenue. Be sure to provide a continuing value so you can justify the ‘assumptive close’.

Continue to refresh content. If a user is paying for a monthly access to a service it is important that content will continue to be updated and refreshed. Otherwise subscribers may become tired of what is available and are more likely to cancel their subscription.

One of our customers that monetizes their videos through subscriptions is PlaySportsTV. They produce training videos targeted to youth sports. Notice that we are on the ‘Training Videos’ tab on their home page. To see video samples, you select the specific sport that you are interested from the picklist.

You are then brought to this page that offers previews which are specific to your interest. Right next to the video player they list the price and benefits of subscribing.

One of the most predominant and easy ways of monetizing content is through advertising. Ad supported content is commonplace throughout websites offering video. Part of the reason advertising as a source of revenue is so popular is that there is no cost to either the publisher or the viewer; the cost is fully burdened by the advertiser.

Much like standard website advertisements, such as banner ads or text ads, there are multiple types of ads that can be used in conjunction with video. An ad that appears during the play of a video is called an In-stream Ad. There are basically two types: Linear Video Ads and Non-Linear Ads. Separate from the video, a companion ad banner may also be used.

A in-stream linear video ad is basically a video commercial. This type of ad takes over the video experience, forcing the viewer to watch the complete advertisement before being allowed to view the rest of the video. No doubt you have seen these types of ads when viewing news videos or TV reruns on Hulu.

The advantages to the consumer of linear video ads are that they usually appear at the beginning of the video, so once the ad is done, the rest of the video usually plays without interruptions. The disadvantage is that the consumer may have to sit through a 30-second spot before getting to what you really want to see. This is not much of an issue for long form video, but if the consumer is watching multiple short form segments and has to sit through a 30-second spot at the beginning of each video, you may try their patience to the breaking point.

Linear video ads typically appear at the beginning of the video as a pre-roll therefore deliver higher impression rates than non-linear ads. So you get paid upfront! The disadvantage is that they are more obtrusive to the user experience and cannot be used as frequently as an non-linear ad during the length of the video.

Non-linear ads are typically overlay ads that appear as a small banner or frame on the top or bottom part of the video and will contain an advertisement comprised of text and sometimes images. A non-linear ad could also be a little Flash application like a small game or some other kind of interactive content. We will limit this discussion to overlay ads. No doubt you have seen these types of ads when viewing videos on YouTube.

The advantage of overlay ads to the consumer are that the video starts right away versus waiting for an in-stream ad to finish playing, this translates to higher viewer satisfaction particularly when watching multiple short-form videos. The disadvantage to the consumer is that overlay ads may appear frequently during the video, which obscures the screen and causes distractions.

The advantage of overlay ads to the publisher are: 1) Viewers tend to tolerate overlay ads more that in-stream and 2) Overlay ads can appear more frequently during the video without being too disruptive compared to in-stream. The disadvantages to the publisher is that overlay ads can be put away before the viewer even reads the ad. Plus, overlay ads are generally less persuasive than in-line ads due in-line ads use of both video and sound.

Tips on using the advertising monetization model include: 1) Higher quality content earns more money. Having niche content or high quality content will be more attractive to most advertisers and will typically garner higher CPM rates. For example, the quality of user generated content can be very hit and miss which makes advertisers a bit wary thus making UGC difficult to monetize. Higher quality tends to generate higher revenue for two reasons: people tend to be more engaged and consume more of the content, and because advertisers prefer more targeted content and as a result are willing to pay a higher CPM rate.

Another tips for using the advertising monetization model is to use multiple Ad Networks to fill inventory. While some publishers may choose to sell their own inventory to advertisers, there are others that leverage Ad Networks. Delve offers integration with AdapTV, AdTech, OAS or 24/7 Open Adstream and Tremor Media. By using multiple Ad Networks, a content publisher is able to maximize the amount of their inventory that is filled with an advertisement (so whenever there is an opportunity to run an ad, there is one available). There are lots of tools that allow publishers to utilize multiple ad sources, and many even give the ability to choose the priority for placement.

Another tips is to mix ad types. Publishers are not limited to use exclusively in-stream or overlays ad within a given video. Both ad types can be used on the same piece of content. By using multiple ad types within a particular piece of content a publisher will be able to maximize their revenue.

We will touch briefly on companion ads. I think the majority of you already understand this type of ad unit. Companion Ads are commonly display or text ads that come in a number of sizes and shapes and typically run alongside or surrounding the video player. The primary purpose of the companion ad is to offer sustained visibility of the sponsor throughout the video experience. Companion ads may offer click-through interactivity and rich media experiences, such as expansion of the ad, for further engagement opportunities.

Our customer GreatSchools, which produces videos that offers ideas and tips for parents on ways to help supplement their child’s education, is an excellent example of a way to monetize using pre-roll ads with a matching companion banners.

Our customer Pitchfork.com, an alternative music news and reviews website, incorporates pre-rolls and companion ads with their music videos.

Our customer Le Gourmet TV, which produces cooking instructional videos, simply use banner ads from the Google Content Network as a method of monetizing their online video content. This strategy is great if you are concerned that pre-roll or overlay ads may interfere too much with your viewers experience.

Our customer Buckmasters, which produce videos offering tips and tales about deer hunting, are a good example of pre-roll ads. Buckmasters uses our built-in ad server to display these ads. The big advantage of using our ad server is that you receive 100% of the revenue coming from the ad rather than sharing it with one of the ad network partners.

Monetization Online Videos Conclusion:
Pay-Per-View: A single transaction and you’re done
Subscriptions: Provides more predictable monthly revenue
Advertising: Revenue burden shifts to advertiser

You can read all the details on Adobe’s blog but here are some of the highlights that matter the most to video publishers:

Performance and Power Management Improvements

• The new Flash runtime has faster execution and reduces resource consumption. For instance, tabbed browsing with multiple flash players running at the same time will consume far less memory than with previous Flash runtimes.

Video improvements

• Delve’s H.264 encoded videos will now look even better on Flash 10.1. This new version takes advantage of hardware-based H.264 video decoding to deliver smooth, high quality video with minimal overhead. Using available hardware on your PC, the runtime offloads tasks from the CPU to improve video playback performance, offer smoother frame rates, and reduce system resource utilization.

• Seeking has also been improved through a feature called “Smart Seek”.  Smart seek allows the video viewer to easily rewind or fast forward video without the player calling back to the server which reduces the start time after a seek.

• Dynamic Streaming or Adaptive Streaming -which allows the player to “switch” to the video stream that best fits the available client bandwidth and CPU – has been supported by Delve for months. With Flash 10.1 the time it takes to switch between streams dynamically is now even faster. This means viewers will always have the best viewing experience regardless of bandwidth fluctuations or client computing power.

Delve is committed to support the latest video technologies in online video publishing. Whether your customers require Flash or HTML5 to experience video on PC’s, smartphones like the iPhone or Android or devices like the iPad, Delve has the right solution to let you reach the widest possible audience. Sign up today for a Free Trial!

Delve customers that use the Adify platform can now serve and accept VAST 2.0-compliant pre-/mid-/post-roll, overlay and companion ads. Publishers can also partner with a VAST 2.0-compliant ad network to backfill ads in a seamless way.

Delve is committed to work with partners such as Adify and will continue to implement emerging standards like VAST 2.0 to ensure our customers have the largest array of options to monetize their video content.

Over the last few years, the consumption of video on the web has exploded. Unfortunately, there are no free and open standards for video. The use of H.264 has gained popularity and has become widely used, but H.264 requires users of this standard pay a licensing fee to the MPEG-LA, a consortium of companies that control the patents for technologies associated with H.264.

The MPEG-LA has so far not aggressively pursued licensing fees for publishers and content owners using H.264, but there exists the possibility that they will do so in the future. The potentially significant added expense associated with H.264 could negatively impact the health of the video ecosystem on the Internet.

Until today, there was no free and open alternative to H.264 that enjoyed broad support by industry leaders. However, that has changed with the introduction of WebM, in addition to Delve Networks, leaders like Adobe, Google, Mozilla, YouTube, Opera, and many others have thrown their support behind WebM.

What is included in WebM?

• VP8 Video Codec – This is a high quality codec developed by On2, a leader in video codec technology, and acquired by Google. The VP8 codec has been made available under a royalty-free license.
• Vorbis – This is an existing open source and widely accepted audio codec.
• A container format that is optimized for a web-based playback experience, e.g., quick start-times, seeking into video.

What are the benefits of WebM?

• Free & Open – Publishers, content owners, technology vendors, advertisers, can invest in the encoding of their content into the WebM standard without fear of vendor lock-in or threat of excessive licensing fees that would harm their business.

• Superior Video Playback – WebM has been developed with web playback in mind, which results in a codec and container format optimized for fast start-times, seeking within video, support for sub-titles and video transcription.

• Low CPU Impact - WebM video can be decoded for playback on any device, e.g., mobile phones, iPads, laptops, without requiring a lot of CPU cycles. This ensures a smooth playback on devices that lack powerful CPUs and reduces the impact on battery life.

It is still early and H.264 will remain prevalent and important for our customers. However, we believe that WebM is an important step forward for the industry and that is why we’ve chosen to support it as an open and free video standard for the web.

Alexander Castro, Founder & CEO

Update: Alex offers more of this thoughts on WebM in an interview with Brier Dudley

Don’t get me wrong, HTML5 is a key technology which we already support and will continue to invest in in the foreseeable future. Delve customers that want to deliver HTML5 video to the iPad/iPhone and the rest of the “iDevice” family can already do so using the Delve platform via our mobile API.

HTML5 video, however, still has shortcomings that need to be addressed before it provides the richness of features our customers require and that today Adobe Flash provides: ability to secure content, adaptive bitrate streaming, comprehensive analytics and monetization of video through a wide array of advertising options. Customers that are using our mobile delivery solution are willing to experiment with video on these new devices to figure out what works and to keep their existing customers happy. But they all expect that eventually the mobile/tablet features match that of the Flash player on the PC.

Competition in the market is good. HTML5 has already made Flash a better product. And we expect that the HTML5 standard will continue to evolve to meet the demand of video publishers. In the meantime, our job at Delve is to offer our customers the best tools that allow them to deliver video everywhere.

But wait there is more! With other video platforms, when you share a link to a video, the viewer (and your potential new customer) is sent to a stand-alone landing page instead of your own website. In this scenario, you don’t get any traffic back to your website nor do you get the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits of having URLs that link back to your website. Delve is smarter than that. When a viewer shares a video, we create a link that sends the viewer back to your website and plays the exact video that was shared regardless of how many videos there are on a channel playlist.

Enable social sharing on your players and watch your traffic grow! If you haven’t done so already sign up for a Free Trial and experience the best online video platform.