The Next Net-Video

In a continuing effort to bring you the companies that Business 2.0 has identified as web 2.0 companies with breakout potential, we’ll move on to group #2.

The category? Video.

1. Joost: A service that provides more of a television-style experience than current online video sites, with channels you can flip through randomly or program yourself. The service is free, supported by highly targeted ads based on people’s actualy watching habits, thier friends’ viewing patterns, and information they volunteer. The service is a partial peer-to-peer system, with content distributed among viewers’ computers.

It didn’t take long for the company to score a win. Despite YouTube’s inability to complete a deal with Viacom, Joost recently signed a major content deal with this media company who owns MTV, Comedy Central and VH1.

2. Dabble: A tool for organizing videos into playlists of favorites. Users share them acorss the network, so, say, food lovers can dabble in one another’s videoollections.

3. Blip.tv: A platform for syndicating serialized online shows such as Starring Amanda Congdon and TreeHugger TV. Blip provides producers with software, ads, and distribution to websites and blogs. A deal is already signed with Web TV service Akimbo, which lets producers send their videos to TV sets.

4. Revision3: A production studio for geek-oriented online shows. Started by Digg founder Kevin Rose and its CEO, Jay Adelson, Revision3 sells sponsorships to companies like Go Daddy, Microsoft, and Sony for as much as $10,000 per episode.

5. Metacafe: A service that ranks uploaded vidoes by popularity and feedback from a community of 17 million monthly visitors- and pays the creators for the success of their work. The auteurs get $100 after 20,000 viewings and $5 for every 1,000 subsequent views. Since September, Metacafe has paid a totoal of $250,000 to 200 contributors.

The Digital Phocus Pick: Joost. This is a category that while still very innovative is maturing a little. Although video on the web will continue to grow, I also expect to see some consolidation, acquisition and termination of many video-on-the-web businesses. Joost is obviously well funded, well thought out and, with an impressive partner signed before launch, well established as a serious contender for 2007 innovation of the year.

Tags: business 2.0, The next net, joost, dabble, blip.tv, revision3, metacafe, viacom, mtv, vh1, comedy central, amanda congdon, treehugger, akimbo, digg, Go Daddy, Microsoft, Sony, video

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