Posted on Tuesday, May 06, 2008
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Dispatch from Hollywood: Product Placement in Online Video Works

Here in Hollywood last night, I caught up with several of the creative leaders in independent online video. I interviewed Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried, producers of lonelygirl15, Tim Street of French Maid TV and Hayden Black of Good Night Burbank.

Hollywood As each of these producers seek a growing audience, they are monetizing their content through product mentions and placements integrated into their shows. We will publish these interviews over the next few days along with other material from Digital Hollywood.

One of the the biggest creators of online video is the New York-based NextNewNetworks. The company has 15 separate episodic programs. They are extremely popular on YouTube, sometimes registering as the most popular channel.

Fred Seibert is the creative director of NextNewNetworks. Fred is a television pioneer who was the creative director of MTV. He says that his company is finding success in sponsored programming.

Since advertising around online video is still in its infancy and most ads don't travel in viral videos, making ads part of the content is a solution that is working well for these innovators.

-- Andy Plesser