There is a new start-up called “YuMe Networks” that says it’s “the first dedicated advertising network created and optimized for broadband video.” Its technology helps create advertiser friendly channels of content. According to a report in ClickZ, “YuMe has software that looks at metadata, speech and other elements and then categorizes the content. The software, along with a team of 23 in India, cull through the videos to verify the content within them and make sure it is safe for advertising.”
What is deemed “safe for advertising”–as with much of television and radio content today–has a huge impact on what is produced. As we’ve said, the entire relationship between marketers and broadband content is a crucial area for the public interest. In addition to privacy and commercialization concerns, what kinds of content ultimately gets funded will have an impact on the range and diversity of news and other programming available in the digital sphere. [Perhaps, in the near future, all of program standards & practices will be outsourced to India and beyond!]
