Metacafe banks $30 million ... YouTube officially intros advertising ... Video search ... EZTakes gets friendly with the iPod ... Panel at Toronto

- Metacafe just raised another $30 million in venture capital. While no video site has really yet figured out a great way to integrate advertising with their videos, clearly that's what the investors are hoping here.

- YouTube will officially start selling ads in some of its videos, according to the Wall Street Journal. YouTube won't use pre-roll ads. Emily Steel writes:

YouTube...plans to sell these ads only on videos from its select content partners, whose original videos include professionally produced clips and user-generated content. The partners will earn a share of the ad revenue. The system is similar to Google's AdSense network, which matches ads to the content of a network of Web sites, and gives those sites a cut of the profits. YouTube, of San Bruno, Calif., has established revenue-sharing deals with more than 50 partners, including Ford Models and Warner Music Group Corp. YouTube declined to say what percentage of videos on its site comes from its content partners.

YouTube started testing its in-video ad format in June and July on more than 200 videos from 20 content providers, and found that 75% of viewers watched the entire ad. The ads had five to 10 times greater click-through rates than standard display ads that appear on Web sites, YouTube said. Other ad models are in the works.

- The Journal looks at four video search sites (Truveo/AOL, Google, Yahoo, and BlinkX) and seems to like Truveo best.

- Jim Flynn, CEO of the Massachusetts movie download site EZTakes, sent a note that his site is about to start selling videos that can play on Apple's iPod. "Consumers, who could already burn EZTakes downloads to playable DVDs, can now also enjoy their purchases on their Apple iPods, and just about any portable media player that they may own in the future," the press release says.

- The panel I'm doing at the Toronto International Film Fest next month, on how filmmakers can use social media, has filled out nicely. It'll include Jason Klein of Special Ops Media, Sandi DuBowski of Films that Change the World, Bill Holsinger-Robinson of Spout, Christine Moore of Myspace, and producer Corey Marr. It's on Saturday, September 8th. See you there?

Tools and Resources for Video Creators, from Metacafe

This seems cool: a new area on the vid-sharing site Metacafe called Metacafe Studio, which offers all sorts of tools and resources for video creators, including a production school.

Here's the full list of new features on the site, from today's press release:

· Production School - Tips including over 50 instructional videos covering all topics of video production from lighting to editing

· Production Resources - Directory with links to hundreds of the best resources available to online video creators, including copyright-free music, editing software, special effects tools, stock video footage and more

· Producer of the Day - Spotlight on highly-ranked Metacafe creators and their most popular videos

· MetacafeUnfiltered - Video series hosted by Will Video for Food’s Kevin Nalty and featuring profiles of Metacafe’s most interesting video creators

· Producer Rewards Showcase - Access to all submissions to Metacafe’s Producer Rewards program, with an interactive leader board displaying top earners from each week, month and all-time

“Metacafe already offers producers the most inclusive and lucrative payment program in the online video industry,” said Erick Hachenburg, Metacafe’s CEO. “Now, Metacafe Studio improves producers earning potential by providing them with a clearinghouse of information designed to help producers of every skill level improve their videos, get exposed to the largest possible audience and reap the rewards.”

New Edition of 'The Future of Web Video' is Out

Just wrapped up a major update to my book, 'The Future of Web Video,' barely in time for the South by Southwest Film Festival, and some other fun events I'll be involved with this spring.

What's new? There's updated info about the iTunes Store slowly opening to independent content and YouTube's plans to start sharing revenue with creators; updated stats and forecasts; changes to the overview of sites that help indie producers make money; and new interviews with Metacafe co-founder Arik Czerniak, filmmaker Lance Weiler, and Kent Nichols, the co-creator of the popular "Ask a Ninja" video series. If you don't have a copy yet, either in annotatable paperback form or as a bevvy of fast-downloading digital bits, now's the time.

The new table of contents is below.

Table of Contents

Tuning in to the Future of Web Video

Web Video: Opportunities and Challenges (Chart)

> The Revenue Equation

Getting Paid: Sites that Help Indie Producers Make Money (Chart)

Perspective: Steven Starr, Co-founder and CEO, Revver

Perspective: Arik Czerniak, Co-Founder, Metacafe

Perspective: Kent Nichols, Co-Creator, "Ask a Ninja"

> Going Viral

Perspective: JibJab Media Co-Founder Gregg Spiridellis

Perspective: Fritz Grobe, Co-Founder of Eepybird and Co-Creator of “Extreme Mentos and Diet Coke Experiments”

Conversation: “Evolution of Dance” creator Judson Laipply

Perspective: Ahree Lee, Experimental Video Artist

> Beyond the PC

Web Video on TV: Reaching the Couch Potato Audience (Chart)

Perspective: Jeremy Allaire, Founder and CEO, Brightcove

Conversation: Jim Barton, Co-Founder and CTO, TiVo

Perspective: Shawn Strickland, Vice President, Verizon FiOS TV

Can You See Me Now? Crossing the Cellular Chasm

> Movies

Perspective: Waterborne director Ben Rekhi on Web Feature Films

Conversation: Writer-Director Lance Weiler

Perspective: Joe Swanberg, Independent Film Director

Conversation: Jonathan Rothbart and Stuart Maschwitz, Co-Founders of The Orphanage

> Advertising

Conversation: Steve Hayden, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Conversation: Jeff Lanctot, Vice President, Avenue A | Razorfish

Conversation: Andrew Robertson, CEO of BBDO Worldwide

Perspective: Jamie Tedford, SVP of Marketing and Media Innovation, Arnold Worldwide

> Data and Predictions

Surveys, Stats, and Forecasts
- Advertising
- Discovery
- Mobile video
- Payment
- Sharing
- Viewing habits
- Atom Entertainment's 15 Most Popular Videos of All Time

Visions of What’s Ahead
- Viral video
- Playing Web video on television
- Amateur vs. professional content
- High-def
- Piracy
- Advertising, measurement, and tracking
- Transitions and transformations

> Back Matter

Glossary

Recommended Reading

Blogs and Other Resources

Author Bio

A Note on Sources