StumbleUpon Launches Video Referral Site, StumbleVideo

StumbleUpon’s social browsing application has been such a big hit that the company is launching a separate site for video referral called StumbleVideo.

StumbleUpon is a browser toolbar that recommends Web sites based on viewing patterns of other people with similar user profiles. StumbleVideo will do the same type of recommending for video, only it is not a browser extension. It is a Web site that works within the browser.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth in stumbling videos and now we’re able to bring you highly relevant, high quality content, based on your preferences,” said David Feller, vice president of marketing at StumbleUpon. “It’s very difficult to find something that is relevant to you just on searching ‘humor videos,’ or ‘cat videos.’ With StumbleVideo, you never leave the page. The content is brought directly to you. It’s a lot like channel searching but everything is customized based on your interests and preferences.”

To begin with, StumbleVideo will serve videos from the top three video sites: YouTube, Google Video, and Myspace. Feller said that any site with embeddable video can and will be served in the future but they chose these three in the interest of a timely launch.

More at TechCrunch

Tags: StumbleUpon StumbleVideo video referral YouTube Google Video MySpace NataliDelConte

Stella Artois ends iconic sponsorship of Channel 4 movies

Brewer InBev is to cease promotion of its brand Stella Artois during film programming on Channel 4.

The sponsorship of the strand has been a mainstay of Channel 4's sponsorship budget for the past eight years, and is understood to be worth in the region of £1m a year to the broadcaster.

InBev said it has no immediate plans to cut its ties entirely with film sponsorship and will still carry on with web-based activity and its outdoor film events.

The increased online activity has included the launch of bespoke website studioartois.co.uk, where users can find games and competitions, trivia, listings, an area for budding filmmakers and the Film Finder search engine.

More at Brand Republic

Tags: stella artois film channel+4 ch4 tv sponsorship advertising

Skype founder to launch global broadband TV station

Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the founders of Skype, are set to launch a global broadband television service next year, promising viewers and advertisers the best of the internet coupled with the best of TV.

Friis and Zennstrom, also founders of music download applications Kazaa, sold Skype to eBay for £1.3bn last year and are reported to have invested part of the proceeds to develop the service, according to a report in the Financial Times. It has been codenamed The Venice Project.

The project will show near-high-definition programmes, which will be supported by advertising revenue. Users can personalise channels or join forums to discuss content. The amount of advertising revenue available to the project will differ according to whether the content owner sells the ads or if its own sales team book them.

More at Brand Republic

Tags: skype tv broadband digital advertising the+venice+project