I helped ADM standardize the measurement specs around downloads, and the process was contentious around the metrics question, “download requests” or “completed downloads”?  The most final of all metrics , “plays”, was not considered because it simply was not feasible. During the current economic downturn, the need for the best metrics has become even more important for publishers and advertisers.

Over a year ago our engineers decided to resolve this issue in the most practical way we could – connecting iTunes to Google Analytics. We are announcing this product today. Before I go into the specifics, I would like to emphasize one important point – this free service does not require any relationship, contractual or otherwise, with VoloMedia.

VoloMedia’s Bridge-to-Google Analytics is a plug-in to the iTunes Media player, now installed with over 100 thousand iTunes consumers in the US – precisely 94,296 iTunes plug-ins were active over the last 5 days. Publishers are free to use this free service if it meets their needs, i.e. collect annonymous usage statistics regarding usage of their content on iTunes and to analyze them using Google Analyics: a free and robust industry-standard platform. If you have ever used Google Analytics, then you are familiar with “GA_ID – Google Analytics ID”. With a simple modification of the RSS feed to incorporate the GA-ID the publisher can start flowing aggregated play and download data to their Google Analytics account.  More information is on our website: http://www.volomedia.com

I hope this initiative is seen as one that is beneficial to the entire podcasting community, one more step forward to making podcasting a dynamic and vibrant medium for consumers, publishers and advertisers.

Usually this is called advertising insertion, because the primary intended use is to embed advertising campaigns within network content, so as to optimize monetization.  This has many benefits, including the ability to assemble and dis-assemble campaigns without laborious and expensive editing.  This post is not about the merits and distinctions between available insertion technologies; while many providers go about this process differently, the end result is generally the same:  ads are placed and at end of campaign they are taken out of future downloads.

As you might imagine,  we tend to use the metaphors associated with advertising to describe the system. For example, you click the “advertising” section of a web-service, run a “campaign,” select an “advertiser,” upload then schedule an “ad.” All this makes perfect sense if you use the service to execute ads within your network.

But we have realized that as with most descriptions, they have their limits, and many customers use the insertion system for reasons that extend far beyond advertising. While the language we use to describe the service might not jibe with these uses, they are both possible and very effective. Here are a few examples of uses that publishers have employed:

“Bumper” Insertion
Audio and video episodes often include bumpers at the front and back of shows. They are standard introductions and ending segments that signal the beginning or end of an episode. They tend to be consistent across all episodes. Organizations are using the insertion feature to publish these bumpers automatically. Why? It allows an organization to switch out bumpers at any point in time, without the hassle of re-editing legacy content. So if your content is “evergreen,” or relevant to the audience regardless of it’s age, you can freshen-up old content to feel current and lively.

Special Messaging
Not all organizations can or want to advertise within their network. Perhaps you are a non-profit organization with commercial limitations, or an educational system. You still could use the insertion technology for valuable, cross-network communication. Imagine having the power to alert your audience on any key points. Within a short period of time you can run a campaign to infuse your content with important information, regardless of whether your audience is accessing episodes that are current or in your archives.

Alerts
The quickest way to get an urgent message to your audience is by placing it in locations they are sure not to miss. You can run limited duration special alerts that are embedded in downloaded content. When you feel you have adequate coverage, just close-out the campaign, and no further messages will insert.

These are just a few examples of alternative insertion use cases.  Do you have more to share?  Comment here.

Consider the evolution of the web browser as it pertains to the situation with media playback environments. The tremendous presentation flexibility of the browser as a standards-based platform provides a rich palette for creative expression on both the content and advertisement sides. The ubiquity of the Flash player and its cross-browser compatibility opens up even more creative possibilities.  This is an example of two different types of standards—one managed by a standards body (the W3C) and the other a de facto standard (Flash as a widely adopted rich client browser extension).  Early days in the browser wars featured debates over standards compliance versus innovation.  While the numbers show that Microsoft won the browser battle (for now, at least), adherence to standards has also won. Will standards develop around video playback environments to allow all participants in the content publication ecosystem to optimize their efforts? 

Today, publishers have a tradeoff to consider.  They may be able to obtain a high value from innovative, engaging ad units that creatively deliver the advertiser’s message, or better target the desired audience, but possibly at the expense of broad reach.  In a browser environment, this might not be much of a tradeoff. Thanks to a standards-based presentation layer, highly innovative ad types can be delivered to most all viewers.  But as digital media consumption moves beyond the browser, the lowest common denominator comes into play, and the lack of standards constrains the type of ads that are universally applicable. Over time, we may see standards emerge in non-browser playback environments, and this will lead to innovation built on top of those standards.  Today, however, the advertising value calculation has to take into consideration the capabilities of all the environments the publisher wishes to target, and the complexity associated with a client-specific publication process to support client-specific ad units and ad delivery methods.

Just as I pointed out in January, the sound of what is being sent into the cloud needs to improve, if for no other reason than to avoid trying to figure out how to cram a “record” into your iPod. Seriously, for those that are my age, it’s unfair for us let those brought up on listening to audio in the mp3 format think that’s the best music can sound. For those that have never heard the sound of a vinyl LP you owe it to yourself to hear all of what the artist labored to put into the music, especially the parts the mp3 format has had to discard.

I know, I know, you’re going to say that the human ear can’t detect the difference between a vinyl album, a CD, MP3, WAV, etc. I’m sorry, I disagree. I hear a difference. And it’s especially noticeable in the MP3 format, the most popular format for portable devices and online streaming. The reason it is the most popular, if you didn’t already know, is that it is the smallest file size. An MP3 file is a fraction of the size of, say, a WAV file. File size is directly related to download time.

So what do we do about better sound quality on “the net?” First, don’t settle. If you can find a way to make that audio sound better then do it. Start with a Variable Bit Rate setting if you can. VBR allows the music to be compressed in places where the full audio spectrum will most likely not be missed, a fade in or out for example. Another option would be, with such advances in bandwidth and more and more access to higher speed connectivity, offer your audio in the WAV format. I’ll take a WAV over MP3 any day.

Whatever the case, I refuse to settle for what we now accept for high-quality audio. I don’t believe going back to vinyl is the answer. Memories of the cracks and pops of an over-played album and the need for the pennies on a tone-arm are enough to keep me away from climbing on that bandwagon.

If, as Eliot Van Buskirk of Wired commented, vinyl is the nail in the CD’s coffin in his article back in December, and is the best we can do then I would have to be very disappointed in technology. And, to date, I’m not.

Look I have great memories of opening that new album (I still distinctly remember taking the shrink wrap off that debut Boston album…sigh.), but beyond the romance of it all, I don’t want to go back. Hey, I liked the show Happy Days…it doesn’t mean I wanted to slick my hair back and do the stroll. Let’s move forward.

Have you got some tips for improved audio? Let’s have em.

High speed unlimited Internet bandwidth is vital to the success of Podcasting and New Media. Unlimited broadband is just as important as Dave Winer’s work with Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and compressed media formats such as mp3. Broadband is one of the key ingredients that makes this industry possible.

As a result, some United States broadband users may soon experience a “bandwidth crunch”. Although relatively new to the U.S. market, bandwidth crunches currently exist in many other countries including Canada. There is no direct evidence that bandwidth crunches deter Podcasting and New Media, but it is true that most New Media downloads come from the United States.

The Internet community has created creative ways to deal with bandwidth issues. BitTorrent solved this very problem on the hosting side of things. For broadband consumers, the only option is to switch services, which is most likely what will happen.

I believe this broadband company’s trial will fail, not because it didn’t make the broadband provider more profitable, but because this model of charging per bandwidth does not lend kindly to New Media. Today’s announcement that HBO will start offering downloadable content has reinforced my thought that New Media will influence broadband services in a positive way. Once this broadband provider discovers this, I am confident the trial will be terminated and we will not see a bandwidth crunch in the United States anytime soon.

I have been struck by the continuing confusion in the marketplace in defining a download. The overly simplified convention holds all video within a web browser is streamed and all without is downloaded. I wrote a recent article on Downloading on the Internet and how at VoloMedia we define the three different types of downloads – RSS, Progressive and Direct. One of the challenges for ADM will be to concisely define our medium and explain why RSS matters to publishers. With the existence of suitable metrics and advertising solutions, there is no justification to keeping any media locked just within the confines of a web browser.

The iPhone has been a valuable device in meetings with potential sponsors that haven’t downloaded Culture Catch’s vidcasting show.  As a digital assistant, the iPhone has been a homerun for me.  Apple really delivered another great digital device.

January is upon us again. What does Steve have up his sleeve this year? I don’t know.  Those who say they know, don’t.

As a member of ADM, I can tell you what I want that would improve my downloading lifestyle.   I want Steve to introduce an Apple television set that does to the TV industry what the iPhone is doing the cell phone business.  A total revolutionary device that simplifies the viewing of network, cable and downloadable media content.

I see in my crystal ball Steve’s presentation on stage at the Mascone Conference Center.  He’s standing before a giant image of an old television set with a stack of electronic boxes on top of it.  One for the cable, one for DVDs, and one to power the home theater speakers in the room.  On the table in front of the TV set are six remotes.  Three remotes work while the others are kept around just in case they might do something if the instructions ever turn up.

This photo of a typical U.S household’s home theater room is dissolve to the new Apple television set.  A flat screen television set surrounded by an aluminum casing.  The design of the set is stunning but not enough to get a stand ovation.  The set rolls the set out on to the stage.

We find out that inside the Apple television set the hardware includes wifi, a 500 gig hard drive, DVD player, a camera, and 4 wireless home theater surround sound speakers for 5.1 surround sound.  Additionally, Steve has made a deal with AT&T and the all other MSO’s to allow Apple to put the cable box device inside the Apple television set.

Turning on the set, we see the familiar Front Row interface with links for Music, Movies, Photos, Podcasts, TV Shows and a new link for Live Television.   Clicking on the Live Television link takes us to iTunes, which now has a live television-programming guide as a new feature.  As Steve scrolls around the live TV channels and recording shows like TiVo, his iPhone rings.

Up pops on the screen, an iPhone prompt asking if you’d like to answer the call using your Bluetooth Apple TV device.  Of course, since there’s a camera build into the set, this call is also a live video chat with another Apple television set owner.

The die-hard couch potatoes in the audience are now crying with happiness.   My self, I’m just happy I can download Culture Catch directly to my TV set.

One remote. One box.  It’s that simple.  Converge!

No, I’m not going to discuss the philosophy of existence. But I am going to draw an analogy.

How many times have you heard the question “Yes, the podcast has been downloaded, but how do you know if anyone listened to it?” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked that question…

But enough with the platitudes.

The fact is, there’s a specific type of person who wants to know the answer to this question and this person is very important to the future of our fledgling medium. This person is known as The Advertiser. (Or, if from an advertising agency, the Media Planner/Buyer.)

More specifically, The Advertiser wants to understand the level of Engagement that your audience has with your media because simply put, your audience will be more receptive to their marketing messages.

Engagement has been an elusive metric for all media but in its absence, we measure things like reach, frequency, response and yes, downloads. But is that enough? Are downloads simply enough to satisfy the needs of a marketer?

In an age of syndicated, anonymous, uncontrolled distribution and playback of downloadable media on multiple connected or unconnected devices there are some people who feel that measuring downloads is a good start, but it’s not enough. Others feel that downloads are just fine for their needs.

When I can play the same piece of content in a flash player, in a dedicated desktop media player, on an iPod, on an Apple TV, on a TiVo, on a Sonos, on an iRiver Clix, etceteras and so forth, how do you reconcile the consumption of that media across all those devices so that it’s meaningful for our customers?

We don’t know yet, but helping to answer that question is only one of the many excellent reasons the ADM was formed.

Together, working with the advertising community, platform providers, software and technology companies, we can determine what metrics will satisfy the needs of our constituents so that downloadable media is no longer considered a testing ground but a full-fledged, proven line item in a company’s marketing budget.

If you have a stake or an interest in helping to ensure the future of downloadable media, please get involved. We’re looking for smart, thoughtful folks who can help us answer the big questions that will impact downloadable media for the months and years to come.

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