The Reach - Podcasting and other Portable Media Strategies

Mike Shields, from MediaWeek, posts this today, indicating that eMarketer sees an uptick over the next several years in advertising buys for podcasting.

James Belcher from eMarketer sees Google as the catalyst - with Adsense for Podcasting coming into play.  Given that the dynamic duo from dMarc, Chad and Ryan Steelberg, left Google/dMarc last week over strategic differences, could it be this becomes the best platform dMarc is used for?  This would assume Google can’t convince traditional media buyers or traditional media platforms to play the game their way - and while podcasting may be a great platform to use it for, I haven’t found anyone that wants to bet against Google attacking the traditional media advertising model.

Tracking and reporting is still an issue for podcasting, but according to the article from MediaWeek, that’s not holding anyone back from including podcast media buys in the  mix.

Ignore my sarcastic view of the PR sweet-spot words in this otherwise notable press release from Adobe.  Flash has made a big comeback with it’s popularity driven by applications in YouTube and other media aggregation sites.

Some of you may say - “Comeback - have you been under a rock or something?  Hasn’t Adobe’s Flash been a critical element of web design, rich media ads, etc for years?”  and to some degree, rightly so.  Here’s the reason for my choice of words “Comeback”:  Flash grew popular in the late 90’s and early 00’s for visually stunning mulitimedia websites.  Then came search engine optimization and search engine marketing best practices, which looked down upon the use of Flash in websites, as search engine spiders could not “read” a Flash file.  So, it’s been out of vogue if you wanted your website to be search engine friendly.

With the advent of YouTube and other media aggregation sites, Flash has become the new poster child for media distribution capabilities.  Now that it has an even newer lease on life on cellphone platforms, it may be here to stay.

So, strategic question - will the use of Flash media files take the place of MP3, MP4, due to the ubiquity of the Flash Player?  Of course, you technology strategy geniuses out there are saying “Ed - I had that figured out 2 years ago - what took you so long?”. 

This would have just a LITTLE impact on the current technology that drives music, film, podcasting and iPods, etc.  If cellphone MFRs implement Flash as their media technology of choice, the ramifications are pretty large…..I’ve already said that cellphones replace the iPod and other MPx players in the end game.  Maybe this accelerates the end game.

I guess it’s about time to discuss the iPhone.  I’ve procrastinated on writing this post, due to the potential impact the iPhone has on the market and yet weighing the risks to Apple and other phone manufacturers.  It’s somewhat difficult to be unbiased on either side of the battle that has begun.

First, let me say that the pictures of the iPhone (check here with my friend Blake Burris of CocoaRadio for some great firsthand shots) look great.  The concepts of the OS and Software the phone is built around sound great.  Watch Steve present the Keynote at MacWorld for details.

Question - how will we like typing on a completely flat surface (the phone screen)?  It may take us a while to conform to a new manner of typing.  We’ve all gotten comfortable over the course of our lives with the raised keys with “finger curves” and the feeling of pressing down to create a keystroke.  I’m sure we can adjust, but wow - it will take some committed early adopters to stick with it!

Visual voicemail is new to cell technology, but old hat to VOIP users.  I’ve had it for 3 years now - a great invention.  Glad it’s finally coming to cell phones, although, since I have a Blackberry, technically I’ve been able to do this for a long time.

As usual, Steve blows people away, generally until they walk away and go…”hey - I’ve been doing this for a long time - how come he made it seem so special?”  Welcome to the mystique that is Steve Jobs.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m looking forward to seeing this on the market and how it will force all the other manufacturers to get moving on some creativity.  We, the consumers, will all benefit.  Let’s be glad!

Eliot Van Buskirk writes an interesting post regarding Big Music and MP3 technology on Wired News yesterday.  His contention is that Big Music is being forced to adopt MP3 technology just as a weapon against iTunes.  He believes that Big Music will ultimately not allow Steve Jobs to run their lives.  They’ve played reasonably nice together so far, but maybe Steve has outlived his usefulness to them?

Eliot lists 7 reasons why MP3 has to be seriously considered.  I’d tend to agree with him.

So, relative to the title of today’s post, why is that relevant to podcasting?  Well, since MP3 is the audio techology that drives the recording and playback files in this podcasting world, it is critical that other peripheral uses stay alive so as to support a standards based audio delivery technology.  So, kudos (assuming Eliot is correct) to Big Music for keeping this corner of new media alive!

Well, no great surpise as this from Matt Richtel of the NY Times has been discussed in the blogosphere for several weeks now.  But, what I want to comment on here is that Verizon won’t have the lock on this for long (blinding glimpse of the obvious, BGO for you Barbarians at the Gates fans) and YouTube and other aggregation points will be readily accessed by cell phones soon and without too much muss or fuss.

Look for this to be the norm before long WITHOUT Verizon’s $15 surcharge….

Apparently, in the world of Web 2.0 (or other semi-relevant monikers), the rules are changing.  Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. Back in the 90’s, Mark Cuban was fond of saying “Content is King”.  While I can’t say if this slogan is attributed to him, it was and has been the rule of the web.  Today, that slogan is officially aged and cracking.

This morning, Rafat Ali, of Paid Content scoops Bear Stearns analyst Spencer Wang in his research article on how Aggregation and Context is the highest value in the information chain.  I use the word “scoop” because it showed up on TechMeme first and now the Bear Stears blog is the headliner.  Shows you how I rate and rank my content, eh?

This confirms what I’ve been believing and therefore modifying the MPReach business plan accordingly.  Watch this space for announcement of new audio/video/text networks that we’ll be launching (can’t call the digital media “podcasting or video podcasting, as Apple Computer might decide they own me….)

This morning finds a well written piece by Richard Siklos on the current state of radio here in the U.S.  There has probably not been a time in the history of radio that so many variables are changing at once.  To Siklos’ credit, the writing is well balanced.  Large radio conglomerates, such as Clear Channel and CBS Radio are looking to sell stations and invest their cash in other technologies - whether that be greater web presence, HD Radio, or satellite.

At the core of the matter is the changing listening habits of the new generation.  He even quotes a surgeon over 50 yrs of age listening to his iPod in the operating room rather than radio, along with what we would expect - a college student who doesn’t listen to radio at all anymore.

Other than drive time, listening in all hours of the day in terrestrial radio are down.  Way down.

The US Wall Street Journal Online has an article today (subscription required) on audio and video search tools that are now coming into focus.  The proliferation of audio and video on the web, combined with the hope for becoming the next “Google” has thrust Podzinger, Blinkx, and TVEyes into the spolight, much to the delight of their PR teams.

Podzinger partnered with BBN Technologies of Cambridge, MA to bring their product to market. 

This is a market that has a pretty huge barrier to entry, considering the technical complexity - so, assuming they are able to satisfy advertisers with results, these companies that hope to become the new “Google” very well could.  The article mentions that Blinkx states that there is about 60% accuracy on amateur voices and near 100% on professional voices.

This proves to be an interesting space to watch - keep your eyes open, but don’t expect the original Google to sit back and watch.

My continued discussion on Media Swamp with Giovanni regarding the Google Radio advertising platform that is due for release in October.  The discussion centers on how this advertising model can make a dramatic impact on the radio ad model we’ve come to know.  Additional discussion regarding the capabilities of MSN VS. Google VS. Yahoo! and the relative strategies for each.

Ed and Giovanni continue to discuss the Long Tail and it’s real value.  Advertising models are discussed, both local and long distance - meaning international.  Check it out over on The Media Swamp.