Share it - loose it

I’ve always been a fan of tech videos on the web.  I remember the good old days of Tech TV, previously ZDTV, now defunct.  The newest of them, Techfluff.tv just recently launched its 3rd episode on Europe’s number one Web-Tech conference in Paris, Le Web ‘08.  TechCrunch just recently covered the show explaining that “every week TechFluff delves into the world of web-celebrities and tech startups, particularly the London scene”.

I think online video has always presented monetizing challenges even more so through its syndication channels.  This past summer at TechCrunch 50, I heard Ashton Kutcher talk about his theory on this topic and how he was using product placement on his show, Blah Girls.  I can understand how that might work for an animation of sort but its difficult to execute product placement opportunities when it comes to on-site interviews.

Take Kevin Rose’s Revision 3 for instance, I know that he has sponsorship opportunities on every show and he executes them well but do you think online advertisers expect more?  I think so, I think online advertising is much more about direct response (call to action) type of advertising then branding or sponsorships.  Take a look at the evolution of banner advertising and how far that has gone.

I don’t think showing a sponsor on a show has enough stickyness to it but if they can figure out a really clever way of incoporating the sponsor into the content that would be cool but then again does that break the editorial code of conduct?