Twitter in-stream video viewing from Ooyala
January 23, 2013
Video streaming and monetisation platform provider Ooyala has developed a Twitter Video Card solution, in close collaboration with Twitter, that enables Ooyala customers a turnkey method of embedding videos directly into their Twitter streams for instant playback. Previously, users were only able to include a link to a video in Twitter. This approach inserts a thumbnail of the video directly into the stream so followers can click and play directly without leaving Twitter.
First deployed by sports broadcaster ESPN better to serve its 24 million online video viewers, Ooyala’s Twitter Card solution provides media companies, broadcasters and brands a new way to distribute and monetise video content delivered via Twitter across desktops and mobile devices. In addition, the solution can increase the discovery and sharing of video content and optimise engagement through social and mobile by eliminating the barriers to view content directly on Twitter.
“Twitter is a growing source of inbound referral traffic and outbound content distribution for online media publishers and broadcasters,” said Jonathan Wilner, senior director, business product management at Ooyala. “Consumers today are at the intersection of social and mobile, and demanding easy and fast access to video content. Our ability to deliver video directly in-stream is a major step forward for our customers in meeting this new demand, in a way that is very meaningful for publishers.”
As a result of the close collaboration with Twitter, the Ooyala solution has been certified by Twitter, meaning customers can quickly and easily integrate and distribute video content directly into their streams across all platforms – including desktop, mobile web and native smartphone and tablet apps for both iOS and Android – and trust that the player will work seamlessly within Twitter. The solution works via an Ooyala Twitter SDK (Software Development Kit) and automatic hosting for Twitter Cards. The turnkey API from Ooyala automatically generates the necessary Twitter tags so that a video can be inserted onto a video landing page to enable Twitter Cards.
The technology works seamlessly with Ooyala Discovery, which enables video content providers to increase view-related revenue by algorithmically recommending highly relevant content within the Ooyala Player. For example, if a user watches a highlight from a football game within the ESPN Twitter stream, they could receive a recommendation to also watch highlights from the post-game press conference. Personalised content recommendations can further drive user engagement and monetisation for each video share in Twitter.
In addition to benefiting consumers, this technology opens up new revenue streams for Ooyala customers. It enables the distribution of ad-supported video content across client-owned and consumer Twitter properties, magnified by sharing tendencies of Twitter users. It also opens the door for video integration into Promoted Tweet advertising campaigns across Twitter.
Customers taking advantage of Ooyala analytics will also have extensive data on the performance of their videos through Twitter Video Cards, in addition to the data they already receive on their websites and/or apps, allowing them to further optimise their video content.