On Feb. 5 at its Demo Fest, Microsoft unveiled a series of next generation digital advertising technologies in development at its adCenter Labs. One of them is “Contextual Ads for Video,” which will use speech recognition to dynamically serve ads based on the content discussed in the video.
A demo of the technology can be seen here.
Aaron Goldman, VP of marketing and strategy development for Resolution Media, a search engine marketing agency, says the technology will be beneficial, because “to date targeting for video has been very primitive. You target advertising based on the website or the section you buy and in some cases you can get down to geo-targeting or demo-targeting. But most ad placements haven’t been sold that way because there’s not enough inventory, so most of the buys are run of site or network.”
He compares speech recognition technology to the YouTube overlay ads, which also offer a new way to serve video ads to a segmented audience. He said speech recognition is “one of the better ways to do targeting.”
Microsoft isn’t the first company to utilize speech recognition. Blinkx and Digitalsmiths are currently using it. Suranga Chandratillake, CEO and founder of Blinkx, praised Microsoft for “developing a product that works across the web. It shows they are dedicated to display-oriented advertising with video and not just search. They recognize video is a complex media type to match to advertising.”
But Chandratillake also said the Microsoft product is insufficient because speech is “only part of the puzzle and a pretty limited way of understanding video.” Hearing words in a video can be confusing because their meaning is unclear, such as whether the words “big apple,” in a video mean a piece of fruit or New York City. Blinkx AdHoc system uses speech recognition and conceptual search technology, which analyzes the true meaning of a video, so relevant ads can be served, Chandratillake said. The conceptual search technology is based “on any information we can get from the video, based on speech and other metadata,” he said. Blinkx clients include Real Estate TV, Young Hollywood and Handmade TV.
Goldman said Microsoft contextual ad technology “is taking a step forward, compared with what’s on the mass market.” He compared speech recognition technology to the measures used to target TV ads, “where the best you can do is determine day parts and network or a particular show. You can’t get remotely into the contextual environment.”
Goldman said Microsoft’s goal for the contextual video ad technology is to utilize it in the Microsoft digital home environment, where movies, TV and other content are streamed from a computer to a digital media receiver. “It will provide the same ad opportunities to all homes for TV style advertising in a contextually relevant environment,” he said.
Director Dag Johan Haugerud’s “Dreams (Sex Love)” Wins Top Prize At The Berlin Film Festival
A Norwegian film about love, desire and self-discovery won top honors at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday.
A jury headed by American director Todd Haynes awarded the Golden Bear trophy to "Dreams (Sex Love)" by director Dag Johan Haugerud.
Haynes called it a "meditation on love" that "cuts you to the quick with its keen intelligence."
The film focuses on a teenager played by Ella Øverbyer, infatuated with her female French teacher, and the reactions of her mother and grandmother when they discover her private writings. It's the third part of a trilogy Haugerud has completed in the past year. "Sex" premiered at Berlin in 2024, and "Love" was screened at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The runner-up Silver Bear prize went to Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro's dystopian drama "The Blue Trail." Argentine director Ivan Fund's rural saga "The Message" won the third-place Jury Prize.
The best director prize went to Huo Meng for "Living the Land," set in fast-changing 1990s China.
Rose Byrne was named best performer for her role as an overwhelmed mother in the Mary Bronstein-directed "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You." Andrew Scott won the supporting performer trophy for playing composer Richard Rodgers in Richard Linklater's "Blue Moon."
The climax of the festival known as the Berlinale came on the eve of Germany's parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by migration and the economy.
The national election is being held seven months early, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition collapsed in a dispute about how to revitalize the country's economy.
Efforts to curb migration have emerged as a central issue in the campaign — along with the question of how to handle the... Read More