VidCompare Puts Online Video Platform Comparison Shopping At Your Fingertips

我们离第一场只有一周多的时间了网络视频平台峰会 11月在圣何塞. 18-19, and the timing couldn't be better for the event. 我们在StreamingMedia涵盖的所有主题.com, the online video platform (OVP) space has been the most popular in the months since we first published Jan Ozer's article “选择在线视频平台”4月.

Obviously, we're not the only ones covering the space. 就在上周，弗雷斯特研究公司发布了一份报告排名前六的ovp (Brightcove), Fliqz, 创作, Ooyala, Twistage, and VMIX) based on criteria including everything from platform features, 可伸缩性, 以及产品战略的整合, 定价, 市场占有率. 但是在这个空间里有几十个ovp, 福雷斯特报告只抓住了一小部分, 如果重要的, 图片的一部分. The goal of the 网络视频平台峰会 is to help attendees figure out for themselves what features they need in an OVP and draw their own conclusions on which is the best fit for them.

That's also the goal of a compelling new website, VidCompare, which bills itself as a "free comparison service for business looking for an online video platform provider." It's aimed at large corporations and small-to-medium-sized business alike, and uses data collected from the platform vendors themselves as well as independent research to let users search based on their own needs and criteria for the OVP that best suits what they're looking for.

VidCompare was launched in September by Kristopher Drey and Alex Polonsky. Polonsky and Drey both spent years building comparison engines for CNET Networks—including for Download.com和Shopper.com—before Drey joined Fliqz three years ago as vice president of product 市场营销.

So the first question out of most people's mouths is "How can I trust VidCompare when one of its founders is a VP at one of the very OVPs the site compares?" Drey is well aware of the potential accusations of bias and conflict of interest, but hopes that the quality of data and comparison on the site speaks for itself. “总的来说，我对这个领域充满热情, and I can only say to you so many times that I'm unbiased,德雷说. "It's going to have to come with you looking at the site, doing search after search. VidCompare is a data-driven business, if there's any bias, it's in the data itself."The 60 platforms compared on VidCompare are organized on the site by category (video publishing, 视频营销, 和生产力), 交付(渐进式下载), 在线直播, 以及移动流媒体), 社区(病毒, 发布到搜索引擎, 和MRSS馈送), 以及支付结构(订阅), 通过交付, 收入分成).

VidCompare的分类分类——发布, 市场营销, 生产力是独一无二的, 并且需要更多的解释. Drey将这些类别定义如下:

视频发布—Businesses who typically have a catalog of videos or are prepared to begin shooting and collecting videos that will be placed on their website and distributed via the web for general or paid consumption.

视频营销—Businesses looking to promote their company or web site using online video by means of further exposing their brand, 增加网站粘性和停留时间, 病毒式传播和联合, 新的收入模式.

生产力—Businesses who need an internal training solution for their employees or a collection of help and how-to video content to be used within a secure environment with multiple log-ins, 和账户.

超出类别, 交付, 社区, 支付结构桶, users can drill down by the size of business the platforms service and other criteria (including ad support, 分析, api, 元数据, 视频格式, 编辑, and several others) to return a list of platforms that match what the user is looking for. 然后, 和熟悉的购物网站一样, users can select several platforms and compare them side-by-side. "We wanted to make sure that users can slice or dice anyway they want,德雷说.To further ward off any accusations of favoritism or bias, the search and listings returns are randomized—everytime you refresh a list, 顺序不同, so that every platform has a fair shot at getting "above the fold" results. "Anyone can show up at the top or bottom any time in any given search,德雷说.The site does accept advertising, both directly and via Google AdSense and the OpenX Market. Vendors can also purchase enhanced listings as well as a spot in the "provider showcase" in the upper-right-hand corner of the home page, but none of this will have any effect on the comparison process itself, 松鼠窝说.

现在, 该网站仅提供文本和数据, but 松鼠窝说 that he and Polonsky are working on "phase two" of the site, which will feature player galleries and video demos from providers as well as an "OVP Decision Wizard" that will walk users through a list of questions to help lead them to a list of providers that most closely match their queries.

VidCompare is the first offering from Drey's company, called Compare Services. 在未来, he says he hopes to create a "broad network" of comparison sites focusing on areas such as 在线直播, 手机视频, 内容传递网络.

Drey will be a panelist at the 网络视频平台峰会 in the opening session, “定义在线视频平台,“上午十点半。.m. 11月3日. 18.