Today Overlay.TV, an interactive media platform that gives video creators and viewers the power to add a layer of custom-designed, clickable content over any embeddable online video, announced the general availability of its platform, which includes a new monetization system, several new interactive tools and open API.
With the Overlay.TV toolkit, users can add video-in-video, product placements, hyperlinks, text and clip art to build alternate endings, pop-up video, detailed product reviews or any number of creative applications to personalize and share video content. In addition to these innovative tools, the newly launched Overlay.TV site has made it possible and simple for content publishers, marketers and users to capitalize on popular videos.
“The eternal question of online video is how to make it interactive and profitable,” said Rob Lane, President and CEO of Overlay.TV. “Overlay.TV helps everyone from videobloggers to corporate marketers answer that question by letting users add a new layer of personalization that can be easily turned into revenue.”
Overlay.TV has been working with many different customers throughout the beta period and is launching joint efforts with several content creators and partners, including Nettwerk Records, Amber MacArthur and several others. Uh Huh Her, one of the first Nettwerk artists to go live has already integrated the Overlay.TV content into their online web presence, and you can see more content from Nettwerk Records in the Overlay.TV Nettwerk Channel at http://www.overlay.tv.channel/show/Nettwerk+Records.
How Video and Overlay Creators Can Cash in
With the ability to link to more than 1,000 affiliate retailers including Amazon.com, iTunes and Macy’s, Overlay creators will be able to start making money from online video with just a few easy clicks.
Every time a product featured in a creator’s video is clicked on and purchased, Overlay.TV shares the affiliate revenue with the creator—as much as 50 per cent depending on the retailer. Registered users simply point their Overlay.TV Wallet to their PayPal account and monies made are deposited through PayPal into their bank account on demand.
Video-in-Video Capability
The new platform includes a video-in-video feature that can be used for everything from video Karaoke, complete with song lyrics, to narrating demonstration or product review videos directly from a Web cam, or by uploading a separate video file into the overlay.
Twitter and Chat Integration
Overlay creators will be able to incorporate their Twitter stream right into the video through one of Overlay.TV’s ingenious video widgets. There is also a live chat feature, which means that video viewers and producers will be able to chat in real-time through the video player while the video is playing.
Overlay.TV Opens Up
As part of this release, Overlay.TV has completed their integration with OpenSocial, which makes it very easy for content creators to embed their creations in sites like MySpace and others using the OpenSocial standards. Overlay.TV has also given developers and designers access to the API and the player’s SDK through the Overlay.TV Developer Center. Developers can customize the player in any way they see fit, and easily integrate it with their own applications and Web presence.
User Control
The viewer is always in control when watching an Overlay.TV video. Don’t want to register to see the videos? No worries, it’s not required. Don’t want to see the overlays? Click the off button and watch unmodified video.
Overlay creators have full control of what they create, from the content, to making their videos public or private and embeddable on other sites either with an embed code or Overlay.TV’s new video widget.
Who’s Talking About Overlay.TV
Amber Macarthur, podcaster, Net@Nite; founder, MGImedia
“As a journalist and blogger, I am mostly excited about using Overlay.TV to add more context to the information in my own videos. When I am talking about a product or service, I can offer more information, hyperlinks, and even other videos within the videos. This gives me a more powerful broadcasting tool that keeps all that relevance, context and interactivity anywhere it is shared.”
James Governor, analyst, Red Monk
“What makes Overlay.TV really unique is the fact that they approached this as a platform, not a medium. The advantage of enabling other sites and developers to take advantage of commerce and UGC in online video will ultimately boost the relevance of video content, and of Overlay.TV as a company.”
Kevin Nalts, YouTube superstar
“Video creators are storytellers at the end of the day, and we will use whatever tools we can that help us tell that story in a more engaging and relevant way. Overlay.TV really opens up the possibilities by adding a whole layer of interactivity to the dialogue we create. Using Overlays I can have alternate endings, or entice users to follow links or easily add graphics and text that were typically complex and didn’t handle being resized very well. This is getting a permanent home in my toolkit.”
Demo Video
The best way to experience Overlay.TV is to see it in action. Amber Macarthur is hosting a 13-part daily video series on Overlay.TV that will give users all the tips and tricks they need to become an overlay-producing superstar. The OverView will launch on Overlay.TV on September 12th.
How it Works
The Overlay.TV platform enables video to stream from most of the popular video sharing sites like YouTube, MySpace TV, Google Video and Yahoo! Video; among others. Publishers can simply overlay video, pictures, words and graphics on top of video and link to products or information on external Web sites.
They can then share the enhanced video via email, their blogs, social networking profiles, personal websites and social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and Digg. As video streams from its original location, viewers are able to opt-in to receive “overlays” or turn them off.
With Overlay.TV platform, publishers are also able to monetize their “overlays” by linking to various e-commerce Web pages. The platform provides publishers and e-commerce partners with tools to measure ROI and analyze resulting traffic to improve their advertising strategies, without increasing the costs associated with video production.
About Overlay.TV
Overlay.TV is an interactive media company that provides a video commerce platform that enables Internet users, content owners and e-commerce sites to monetize and customize their video assets by overlaying contextual information directly onto online video content and linking to external websites. Overlay.TV is a private company headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. For more information, please visit www.overlay.tv.
