Advanced Search

Choose a Category                  Announcements Audio Desktop PCs Digital cameras & camcorders Displays Environment Events Film, TV, manga & anime Gaming GPS Home theater Household Internet Interviews iPad iPhone Japan Mobile computing NOT Japan Off Topic Peripherals Power R&D Robots Software Storage Toys Transportation Video Wireless WTF?

Choose a Month                     October 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005

 Get the stories!  Or just the comments...

• Home
  • Top
  • Archives
  • Categories
  • Tags
  • Sites We Like
• About & Contact
• Datefinder
• Buy J-Gadgets!
• Snapp! PR
• Advertise!

AOL muscling in on YouTube territory
Tweet

AOL will unveil a revamped video portal this week, the latest move by a major Internet company to strengthen its position in this very competitive market.

The centerpiece of the upgraded portal will be a lineup of more than 45 video-on-demand channels with a mix of free and fee-based clips, the Dulles, Virginia, Internet service provider plans to announce on Monday.

People will be able to scan the channels’ “thousands of hours of videos” using a new interactive programming guide, an AOL spokeswoman said.

The channels will feature videos from a variety of AOL partners, including A&E, MTV, Turner’s TNT and TBS, and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

The portal will go live at the latest by Friday in beta, or test, form at www.aolvideo.com, and it will be launched in final form in August, she said. It will also feature a prominent link to AOL’s video-sharing site UnCut, she said.

AOL and other Internet companies such as Google and Yahoo have been busy lately beefing up their online video portals, search engines and stores as demand for this type of content has increased dramatically in the past year.

Yahoo and Google recently outfitted their respective video sites with the features popularized by startup YouTube, which has become one of the web’s most popular destinations. Millions of people visit YouTube.com to view, upload and share mostly amateur videos.

Google also recently began to stream for free some premium videos on Google Video that are normally fee-based, accompanying them with ads. The move is meant to increase traffic to the site.

For AOL, which is changing from a subscription-based business model to an advertising-based model, having a well-trafficked video site is essential. AOL must attract a critical mass of people to AOL Video for its advertising-based strategy to succeed.

— Juan Carlos Perez

Yoshi’s take: That “critical mass” mentioned at the end is going to be the sticking point for AOL, isn’t it? Can’t see it happening now.

02:35 PM Mark Hiratsuka • Permalink
Add a comment | More DWT | Get a cool job in Japan! | Follow us on Twitter

Date much?

Japanese gadgets from Tokyo Zakka! — Perfect gifts for your nerdiest friends back home!

C'mon - let's hear it...

Spammers beware: Any links in comments to commercial websites will be treated as paid advertising and will be charged at rate of $10 per link per day. Invoices will be sent to the idiots who hire you for so-called SEO jobs. All you good people will always keep it real, of course - thanks!