The publishing industry is embracing video technology as a means to
generate advertising revenue and to keep users on Web sites longer.
It's being used by publishing companies like Conde Nast, Hachette
Filipacchi, Ziff Davis, IDG and Time Inc. "You have to find unique ways
to get your Web site beyond being just a commodity," says Dan Orum, CEO
of IDG Entertainment. "Video is one way."

IDG, publisher of InfoWorld, CIO, ComputerWorld
and other technology-related titles, offers both traditional video and
video games on its Web sites. "We launched original video around
Games.net, which is our aggregate site," according to Orum. The
company's original video content is one of the Top 10 most popular
offerings on a site that offers users more than 100 activities, he
adds.

Since introducing video to its sites a year ago, Games.net traffic has
increased 103 percent. Currently, an average of 5,021 videos per day or
156,650 per month are streamed on the Web site. All-together, IDG's Web
sites get about 6 million impressions per month. Video also gives IDG's
advertisers the opportunity to showcase their offerings in rich media,
rather than banner ads, says Orum. "We've created a video player to
maximize the advertising experience," he says. "There are also
sponsorship opportunities available." And the premium price paid by
advertisers for video spots has increased overall CPM on Games.net,
Orum says.

Time Inc.'s multimedia division, Time4Media, started using video on the
action sports Web sites that complement TransWorld magazines in 1998.
Currently, each TransWorld title's site has its own video section, and
all of the video is uploaded on a weekly basis, says spokeswoman Samara
Mormar. "Nearly 1 million people visit TransWorld sites each month,
many of whom are tech-savvy teenagers who are making and submitting
their own amateur videos," she says.

Time 4 Media's other Internet publishing properties, including Golf, Golf Online, Popsci, the Web site of Popular Science, and Outdoor Life,
use video, which is driving both traffic and increased revenue to the
sites, Mormar says. Golf online, for example, offers advertisers the
opportunity to purchase 15- to 60-second "pre-roll" sponsorships of
online videos, which run before the video content begins.