Is Open Video Good for Internet Video Marketing?

Mozilla Firefox version 3.5 was recently released to the public in its beta form.  There are many great new features packaged with this download, including support of the new HTML 5 format.  Due to my strong interest in internet video marketing, though, I was particularly intrigued with the native support of open video in Firefox 3.5.  The main question is, will open video be a good thing for the internet video marketer, and, if so, when?

What is Open Video?

Open Video refers to video that uses coding (ogg Theora) developed by a community of developers, thereby avoiding any proprietary technology or patent issues.  This is also known as Open Source, and the concept has been used in many other ways.  One of the most notable examples is Wordpress.  There are a huge number of plugins for Wordpress, and most of them are free due to the open source concept. 

Until quite recently, there was no open source project for video.  The development of video codecs can be expensive, which makes it difficult to create a free platform which can compete with patented technologies, like H.264 and Silverlight.  Part of the reason some video editing programs are so expensive is because they support video codecs which have patents and thus charge licensing fees.  The makers of the programs pass those costs onto the consumer.  That can all start to change now, thanks to open source. 

As I have mentioned, Wordpress has been developed using open source, and it has resulted in a lot of great applications for internet marketers.  Open source video will also likely result in more interactive video applications, which will definitely be good for internet video marketers.

Why Use Open Video?

Aside from the possibility of many new and useful video applications being developed through an open source initiative, not having to pay royalties on video using proprietary technology is a great incentive for internet video marketers.  If you are currently using video as part of your internet marketing strategy, you may be thinking that you don't pay royalties now, so what's the big deal, right?  Well, this little tidbit may interest you:

"In the case of Internet broadcast (AVC video that is delivered via
the Worldwide Internet to an end user for which the End User does not
pay remuneration for the right to receive or view, i.e., neither
title-by-title nor subscription), there will be no royalty during the
first term of the License (ending December 31, 2010), and after the first term the royalty shall be no more than the economic equivalent of royalties payable during the same time for free television.”

If you have already developed a lot of video content using other proprietary software like this, open video might be looking really good to you after reading that statement.  Of course, you will want to find a good open source video converter, to convert all your videos with patents and royalties coming due at the end of next year, into the free open source video format.  I suggest you wait, though, until a decent one has been developed.

Is Open Video Ready for Internet Video Marketing?

The short answer is no.  Open Video still stands as a great concept, and it is one I believe every internet marketer whould support as much as possible.  This doesn't mean trying to use open video in your current marketing strategy.  The simple fact is, open video is still primarily in the hands of developers.  From the research I have done, truly user-friendly interfaces for the open video codec really don't exist yet.  And there is still work which needs to be done for the video quality to compete with the H.264 format, but it is coming a long way. 

Check out the video below, which is using the open video format. What's really cool is that it uses the new html 5 format, which includes a video tag that works much like the <img> tag does for pictures.  Here is the entire embed code for the video below:

<video src='http://tinyvid.tv/file/3uwvr4t3wi3rm.ogg' controls='controls'></video>

If you have ever embedded videos before, you know it is usally a much longer piece of code involved.

 Note: If you are using internet explorer, you may need to download a plug-in to view it.

If you would like to stay current with the most recent developments, and receive up-to-date video marketing training delivered in an easy to follow, click-by-click guided learning format, then you will definitely want to look into Renegade University.  The training videos are created by people who love internet network marketing and want to help you succeed through their efforts.  I am just one of many of those people, so come in and decide if Renegade University and Renegade Professional are right for you.

Lane Romero-Reiss is an internet network marketing coach and trainer. He is also a member of the Renegade Professional Super Guides. Lane can help guide you through the often confusing terrain of trying to build your business online. He specializes in media marketing, social marketing, and business building for health and wellness professionals.

Lane is very enthusiastically developing a new business model based on the principles of attraction marketing, collaboration, and the consultative approach. The business is named Renegade Referrals, and the feedback on the concept within the internet network marketing community has been overwhelmingly positive.