Read the whole PaidContent.org article

Read Malcolm Galdwell's review of Free in The New Yorker

Their approach to making the digital future financially viable represents as much of a psychological break with rampant free content practices as a template for conditioning consumers to pay for relevant content and valuable applications, especially for mobile devices.

Just as important, they dodge reliance on media advertising that will remain in flux as it evolves into interactive marketing and e-commerce.

Read the entire MediaDailyNews editorial

There are all kinds of strange signs that gaming is changing. With the recent release of Grand Theft Auto, I had to wonder if even Rockstar was getting into the blue rinse game, appealing to seniors in subversive ways. Steal a car in GTA 1V and you can now tune in to Public Radio—last time I checked, retirees made up the core demographic for National Public Radio listeners. Is this the ultimate play for EA’s $2B hostile bid for Take-Two right now?

Nintendo’s Wii is partially responsible for opening the new game demographics. The Wii’s great controller and a low price appeal to a broader audience than the traditional male hard-core gamers. Young kids, women and older consumers, long ignored by the mainstream video-game industry, have discovered gaming through the Wii. Unfortunately, they haven’t discovered very many games!

These new gamers just play the games that they have, content to replay the Wii Sports game that comes with the machine. They don’t buy new games with the obsession of the traditional gamer who is constantly seeking new stimulation.

Today we’ve got senior citizens working out on the Wii aboard cruise ships and boomers attempting to ward off dementia playing Brain Age. Or how about the game “Bread ‘n Butter,” a virtual baking competition with 30K regular players, published by Outspark less than three months ago. Who know the virtual equivalent of the Pillsbury Bake-off could be so, er, sexy?

Call it “FaceliftBook” or “GreySpace” or even “Web 65.0”, this generation of consumers coupled with new online trends are having a profound impact on our industry. Companies are ready to put the “entertainment” into “retirement” and to monetize the returns. Canadian media mogul Moses Zneimer, recently launched a multimedia play aimed at ageing boomers, combining radio, television and social networking. Is it only a matter of time before he, Oprah and Martha Stewart – who can all be described as audience aggregators for the aging set – are playing hardball with Vivendi and EA?

Earning revenue from YouTube videos just got easier

We’d like to let you know about two recent improvements to video units that make them more easy and appealing to place on your sites. First, we’ve partnered with some new content providers that we’d like to highlight. These partners have signed on to let AdSense publishers embed their videos and share in the ad revenue.

• Broadbandtv: “Broadbandtv is partnering with YouTube to bring the very best video program lineup to a growing and engaged online audience. Broadbandtv shows include hits from Fashion, Celebrity News, Sports, Technology, Comedy and Travel to top notch Spanish-language TV series like Somos Tu y Yo.”
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: “CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. CBC/Radio-Canada is available how, where, and when Canadians want it.”
• The Orchard: “A global leader in digital music, video, new media and brand services, The Orchard offers family content like Gumby, Mr. Bill, My Favorite Martian, and other categories of content like music and comedy.”

To give you a better idea of the videos that are available for syndication to your site, we’ve also created a gallery of some featured video units content partners. Note that to choose any of these content providers for your video unit, you should get their YouTube username by visiting their YouTube channel, and then put this username into the “Channel” field when choosing content for your unit.

Second, we’re happy to announce that video units now support 728×90 and 160×600 formats to more easily fit into your site. These two new formats will feature five video thumbnails – when a user clicks on one of the thumbnails, a full sized video unit will appear, along with accompanying ads:

• 728×90 video unit
• 728×90 video unit, expanded
• 160×600 video unit, expanded

You’ll generate earnings for valid clicks or impressions on the ads which appear. To use the new formats, you’ll need to create new video units by visiting your AdSense Setup tab. To choose the new content for your video units, you can edit any of your players or set up new video units dedicated to this new content.
Read the blog post announcement in its entirety

With YouTube it is important that producers don’t just upload content and wait for hits. YouTube provides a number of strategies and tactics to drive traffic to your content; it is baffling that most producers don’t follow these guidelines.

Google ads generate real dollars with targeted advertising; it is amazing how many high traffic sites don’t host Google ads and leave these dollars on the table. In fact, fans right now may be taking your entertainment content and monetizing it themselves with simple Google ads.

In May 2008, Facebook launched Facebook Pages, profile pages created specifically for businesses, musicians, entertainment brands, non-profits and more to promote their initiatives – at no cost. The Pages include advanced functionalities and customization, including a Flash Player application. According to Facebook, “users can add themselves to your Facebook Page as fans, write on your Wall, purchase products, learn about special promotions, upload photos, and join other users in discussion groups. You can send Updates to all your fans whenever you like.”

Not surprisingly, entertainment (music, television, film), sports and politics boast the most significant fan bases on Facebook, according to this blog post by 20bits.

As well, you may wish to promote your content virally on social networks with applications – for tips on how to make this work for you check out an FanTrust blog, Fast Money With Widgets.

And, if you are really ambitious and want your own little piece of technology and some money to finance it, you can also get substantial funding from VC’s that invest in the development of Facebook apps. An upcoming July FanTrust Blog will show you the money.