Video Portals – a sneak peak at what is coming next from Epik

The recent TechCrunch Disrupt conference revealed something interesting: FunnyOrDie.com already makes tens of millions of dollars in what is likely high margin revenue for hosting video humor. This has interesting implications for domain developers as the world moves rapidly towards web video as a source of information and entertainment. So, how can domainers participate in the explosion of online video? Read on.

A look back: Yahoo had their shot with Broadcast.com but YouTube dominates web video
Web video was destined to be huge. The ultimate on-demand video entertainment made possible by abundant choice and instant access through a plurality of web-enabled devices. The 1999 peak-of-the-bubble deal by Yahoo to acquire Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion seemed insane at the time, and was insane. Google’s $1.65 billion deal to acquire YouTube in 2006 also seemed insane at the time but was not insane. Subsequent entrants including Hulu, Veoh, Ustream have all placed large bets on various approaches to aggregating and delivering video.

The net of all this is that we are all watching a lot more online video. This trend is far from over.  The upcoming launch of Google TV will make it even easier to bring video to the widescreen in the living room — the preferred viewing platform for many. The future implication is that internet video will finally be coming into the living room and onto your mobile device — whether the cable and satellite TV companies like that idea or not.

At Epik we are big fans of segmenting online markets with “long tail portals”
A key theme of Epik’s development approach is in developing the long tail of the web. This is made practical by search engines which make it easy for consumers to discover the exact match of what they are looking for in a website that caters to that specific need.

• Product Portals:Product Portals are what I call “segmented Amazon”. If you are in the market for an Ice Cream Maker, you could go to Amazon, or you could go directly to IceCreamMaker.com. By the same token, Google could decide to rank Amazon’s all-things-to-all-people site, or it could rank IceCreamMaker.com which is increasingly tailored to a very specific audience. What we are seeing is that more and more long tail segments are top-ranked not by all-things-to-all-people sites but rather by niche sites that focus on those segments and are bringing a focused value proposition to those segments.

• Directory Portals: Directory portals are essentially what I call “segmented WhitePages and YellowPages”. The model here goes beyond the model of a simple Directory listings, but also tailors the functionality to the expected call to action. For example, if someone is searching for Dining options in New York on Dining.com, we can infer that you would like to make a reservation. However, if someone is searching on CosmeticDoctors.com (coming soon) for a cosmetic surgeon, we can infer that they are looking for examples and testimonials about the doctor’s work and qualifications.

These models for niche media are working.  Product Portal are now up to 1300 portals with 150 new custom portals coming online every week and operating revenue up 100+% month-over-month.

So who is segmenting the YouTube model?
I am pleased to report that Epik has been hard at work at solving this issue by creating a network of Video Portals that map domain names to specific topics. For anyone with .TV domains wondering what they are ever going to do with them besides pay renewal fees on parked domains, this should be particularly welcome news. Here is a preview of what is in development.

How do Epik Video Portals work?
The core of the system is what we call Channel Builder — a full-featured and proprietary platform for aggregating video from across the web using an intelligent approach that filters for relevance and quality. The resulting site is one that combines the three elements that we think make a viable site: Content, Community and Commerce

• Content: Videos: High quality content organized around semantic themes. Users can also upload original videos.

• Community: User comments and ratings, combined, Q&A, with social syndication.

• Commerce: Integration of Product Portal feeds for relevant products and, coming later this year, a marketplace for used products.

The platform is built using the latest technologies for rendering videos across multiple platforms and devices.  We piloted use of Silverlight technology on Slideshow.com and will be using it again here.

VideoPortals are a platform for what I call “Winnable niches” in video
The opportunity here is not just to create online video portals for the obvious segments like “French cooking” and “Kite surfing”. The Video Portal Platform also opens up the opportunity to create niche segments that are ideal for the web. A few examples to illustrate the point:

• DingDongDitch.com — I picked up the his name on the drop.  It is an ideal name for aggregating this silly type of prank video. There are thousands of videos on YouTube alone that fit this genre.   People absolutely watch this stuff, and contribute more of same. There is definitely a mobile angle here …. not that I condone it.

• MotoCrash.com: If you missed the Daytona 500 this weekend, the highlight for many was a spectacular airborne crash.  Motocrash.com will aggregate motor crashes.  Google the term “motor crash” and you will see nobody dominates the search term. That’s an opportunity for aggregating videos like this one.

As you can see, the opportunity exists for hyper-segmentation of video as online video fragments into niches that bring together content, community and commerce.   We believe domains will play a key role in this logical evolution of online video.

What’s the deal?
Similar to the model for Product Portals and Directory Portals, Epik charges a one-time setup fee to produce each video portal and shares 50/50 in the operating revenue.  The setup fee is pretty close to the actual cost to develop and operate the site long enough to get the site to build sustainable organic traffic.  The planned cost to produce video portals is $749 per portal.  Prior to the official launch, we are offering video portals for just $499 to the intrepid early adopters who order before June 30.

One further advantage of being an early adopter on any Epik Premium network is that we try very hard not to have duplicate sites within any network. So, for example, it is unlikely that we will have more than one video portal about any specific topic.  The logic is simple — as with Cable Television, there is not much point in having blatantly similar channels.  At the end of the day, there has to be meaningful differentiation and segmentation, even when it comes to the long tail.

We are having a lot of fun building this new Video Portal Platform (VPP) and look forward to sharing it soon to power a whole new type of online media.  If you are interested in learning more about it, contact me at rob -at- epik.com.