A Safer Way to Proliferate Viral Videos?

YuMe Networks, a new advertising body, launched last week. They promise "access to a premier network of online video publishers and a catalog of brand safe, contextually relevant and targeted advertising solutions."

What does all of that really mean?

Have you ever caught an ad for a company on a site that is completely inappropriate? It's likely that you have. Many buy banner advertising with no guarantee of what type of content will be present on the site that the banner appears on. These incidents can range from awkward, to embarrassing, to downright hilarious. Sure, that's not video, but you get the idea.

One example that comes to mind is a forum that does not allow talk about online gambling sites, yet would routinely have banner ads for them. Another example is of a major manufacturer of digital cameras who often has ads on sites that promote the pirating of digital content - unlikely their intention. I'll stay away from specifics here.

So this service just may help in certain circumstances, especially for the more brand-image conscious, which often consists of large multi-national corporations.

However, is it right for a viral campaign? Maybe not. It will be unlikely for the content to be able to be transmitted outside of the intended page(s). Therefore, it will probably not make it to YouTube (unless you put it there as well - maybe a consideration to make if going this route) and then not posted on numerous blogs or social networking sites.

It is an interesting concept that will be surely be of use to some, but it might not be the easiest way for your video to go viral.