Ansearch Media secures exclusive Australian representational...

Ansearch Media secures exclusive Australian representational rights to blinkx
Ansearch Media Limited (ASX: ANH) today announced it had acquired exclusive Australian
advertising representational rights to the world’s largest and most advanced video search
engine: blinkx plc (LSE AIM: BLNX).
blinkx is the greatest single source of rich media web content available, out-performing even
Google and Yahoo!
The deal makes Ansearch Media the only destination for Australian advertisers and agencies
wishing to target Australian traffic to blinkx, and sees Ansearch address the huge demand for
video advertising opportunities in the wake of surging web video usage.
It also strengthens Ansearch’s leadership in delivering clients quality international websites
with high volume Australian traffic.
Australian internet users spend more than 51 per cent* of their time visiting international
sites, however, this skew is not reflected in current domestic online media spend, which is
heavily focused on local sites.
By offering such sites to Australian agencies and advertisers, Ansearch delivers costeffective
advertising opportunities to a larger Australian audience over a varied range of
online interests.
Ansearch chief executive officer, David Burden, said: “Clients constantly lament the shortage
of inventory for video advertising, and there’s a good reason such opportunities are in hot
demand.
“Video delivers the audience at the point of peak engagement and makes for highly effective,
measurable campaigns.
“With exclusive Australian rights to blinkx, Ansearch addresses that need and is another
example of how we’re leading the market in providing Australian advertisers with the world’s
best internet sites.”
Mr Burden added: “Advertisers can target key word search results with pre-roll video and
display advertisements as well as take advantage of customised advertising and sponsorship
based around video search.”
And he noted the blinkx agreement came just weeks after Ansearch announced the dramatic
expansion of its international online publisher network, enhancing its compelling and distinct
offering to agencies, media buyers and advertisers.
blinkx is the world’s largest single index of rich media web content, delivering more content
from a broader range of sources than either Google or Yahoo!
blinkx boasts an index of more than 26 million hours of searchable video and more than 350
international media partnerships.
According to Hitwise, blinkx’s market share for video search is now ten times higher than a
year ago)**, as users increasingly turn to blinkx to find video content ranging from premium
high definition movies and sports, to breaking news and top quality niche content.
blinkx pioneered internet video search, developing an engine based on technology conceived
at Cambridge University, enhanced by US$150 million in research and development and
protected by 111 patents. Blinkx powers search for three of the world’s top five search
providers including Ask, Dogpile, Lycos and Looksmart.
Unlike other multimedia search engines that attempt to re-purpose technology built for the
text web, blinkx uses a unique combination of patented conceptual search, speech
recognition and video analysis software to efficiently, automatically and accurately find and
qualify online video.
All of this content is now available to users with an unprecedented degree of flexibility and
personalisation. At www.blinkx.com, users can search for video content, create personal
video playlists, or build a customised video wall for their blog, MySpace or Facebook page.
*Source: Hitwise based on 12-week period ending 10 May 2008
**According to Hitwise Intelligence, traffic to blinkx has increased steadily over the past year. For
example, its market share of visits for the week ending May 10, 2008 was 10 times higher than the
same week in 2007.
eMarketer – which benchmarks US online advertising spending projections against the Interactive
Advertising Bureau IAB/PricewaterhouseCoopers data – estimates online video advertising spending
as a percentage of total internet spend will quadruple from 2.4 per cent in 2006 to 9.8 percent in 2011.
The IAB’s most recent Internet Advertising Report (May 2008) revealed online ad revenues in the US
reached US$21.2 billion in 2007, an increase of 26 per cent for the year. Meanwhile, market research
firm ABI Research forecasts the number of people who access video via the web will nearly quadruple
from current levels and reach at least one billion in 2013.
Contacts – Ansearch Limited:
David Burden CEO
Ph: + 61 3 8695 9164; 0407 44 33 44
Email: [email protected]
Damian Element CFO/Company Secretary
Ph +61 3 8695 9104; 0416 286 642
Email: [email protected]
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