If you doubted the traction that Web video is currently gaining, then today’s announcement from Google and the creator of hit animated show Family Guy will surely prove the trend is edging upwards once and for all.
Google has inked a deal with Seth MacFarlane which sees the latter creating original content purely for the Web, which Google will then distribute around the Internet using its AdSense advertising system.
Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
The project, which is set to be called Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, will not be officially unveiled until September, but The New York Times has today got the scoop on the revolutionary plan for distribution.
Web video, and original content on the Web, has been growing for a good while now, but the big problem facing content-creators is the lack of a solid business model for making money from the venture. Google’s plans for MacFarlane’s work could set a new precedent in this field.
Using AdSense For Distribution
Essentially, Google will use AdSense to syndicate the programme to thousands of websites where fans of MacFarlane and Family Guy are expected to visit. This could include fan sites, forums and the like.
But rather than the typical static AdSense advert you and I are very used to, Google will place a clip from the Cavalcade. The Cavalcade will consist of 50 two-minute animated shorts, for which MacFarlane is said to have created a whole host of new characters for.
Advertising will then be incorporated in to the clips in a variety of different ways. Some will include a pre-roll advert before the clip plays, while other will take the form of an ever-present banner sitting underneath the playing clip.
MacFarlane Paid Handsomely
MacFarlane is also involved in producing some of the adverts which will run alongside the Cavalcade, and has reportedly been paid a substantial fee for doing so. MacFarlane will receive a percentage of the advertising revenue from the project, which could equal quite a hefty figure.
Google is calling the distribution service the Google Content Network, and has already dabbled in using it for distributing original content in a deal with The Washington Post back in May, but this is a massively more important step up for the system of distribution.
Huge Revenue Potential
Karl Austen, a lawyer who worked on the deal said:
“We believe the revenue could be formidable. What is exciting is that this is a way to monetize the Internet immediately. Instead of creating a Web site and hoping Seth’s fans find it, we are going to push the content to where people are already at.”
This experiment could pave the way for some very lucrative deals in distributing original content over the Web, which with off-line TV ratings dwindling at a rate of knots, could be an important step in the evolution of television.
