It’s no secret, the last few years have been tough for publishers. The current climate has seen global digital giants cut into local publishers’ lunch, while total ad spend has continued to slump—according to News Media Index , results for the final quarter of 2018 saw ad spend fall 6% compared to the previous year. While some publishers have moved to subscription-supported business models (such as Conde Nast ), not all feel they have a loyal base to support that shift.
But it’s not all bad news. IAB’s latest Australia Online Advertising Expenditure Report showed video advertising specifically was up 15% in the first quarter of 2019. And it makes sense. We know consumers love video and publishers are taking note—investing time, money, and effort to deliver quality video content to consumers. This is helping digital publishers to not only attract eyeballs but also open up new monetization opportunities. But the challenge remains: How do publishers source engaging video content while maintaining a healthy stream yield?
There are a variety of ways publishers are trying to solve for this challenge, including tapping into machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to drive additional views and ad inventory. AI is not just a buzzword; for the media space, it’s making serious waves. Not surprisingly, publishers are jumping on board. Australia’s Seven News, Stuff New Zealand, South Africa’s largest publishing group Media24, and Euronews are all-in on a tech platform from Oovvuu . Oovvuu launched in 2015 with the mission to change the way video is watched and distributed. And it’s well on its way to deliver this mission, currently distributing more than $2 billion worth of video to publishers with viewers in over 100 countries.
How does it work? The technology leverages AI to read publishers’ articles in their entirety to discern the core concepts discussed, and in real-time, match the article with video content from trusted broadcasters. The result: Journalists and editors can easily insert contextually relevant videos into articles to engage readers and monetize those eyeballs with video advertising.
The underlying technology behind Oovvuu’s Compass is Brightcove’s video platform as well as IBM’s AI engine Watson. Brightcove’s Video Cloud acts as the content management system and provides video delivery, while Watson handles the machine learning. On top of these two technologies, Oovvuu’s IP removes the manual process of finding and pairing content with relevant articles. Plus, customers can tap into Oovvuu’s extensive catalogue of videos from the likes of The BBC, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, The Press Association, TechCrunch, The Guardian, and more—giving publishers access to the high-quality, trusted content they need.
News consumption is exploding, video creation is soaring, and video viewing is at an all-time high. The Oovvuu solution, leveraging the Brightcove platform , enables publishers to win back market share from digital giants in the publishing sector. It’s creating a win-win situation for publishers, broadcasters, and consumers alike.
If you’re looking to learn how to gain more control over your online publishing business, increase reach, and engage with audiences in new ways, check out our Strategy Sheet for Publishers .