Videorix (www.videorix.com) is a fresh incarnation of Brandfame, a start-up I reviewed back in September 2007 which offered product placement in online videos - a concept I didn’t exactly welcome with open arms, but Founder Nadim Elgarhy hopes that this time around Videorix will be much more accessible and concentrate on sponsored ad-slots, rather than the problematic idea of product placement.

The model is actually very simple; video publishers browse the marketplace for available opportunities, which come in the form of image ad-slots, which are then edited into a few frames of the video before being uploaded to popular video sites like Youtube.

The process is almost as simple as the classic advertising networks, requiring only a passing knowledge of video editing to implement the ads, and browsing the site for opportunities is just as intuitive as you’ve come to expect, and although the service is a little light on advertisers so far, the simplicity alone should draw them in as the site matures.

Eager to know more, I asked Nadim how Videorix differs from Brandfame, and how he has built on previous experiences to fine-tune his second start-up…

“The difference between Brandfame and Videorix is that Brandfame is a product-placement marketplace, meaning that to advertise in a video you need to have an actual product to display. Also, the process and the logistics are somehow complicated (arranging for shipping of the product to the producer and back to the advertiser, and negotiating how the product will actually be integrated in the video and negotiating compensation). This takes a lot of time and efforts and therefore caters mostly to bigger company (that also happen to manufacture an actual tangible product).

With Videorix, on the other hand, all you need to advertise in a video is your company or your website’s logo and a tagline or a website address. You decide on a list of requirements and publishers have to be able to fill all those requirements if they want to take your advertising opportunity. This is much easier, much faster, and much cheaper than Brandfame so we’re expecting to see a lot of smaller businesses and websites using Videorix.”

Having played briefly with the service myself, initial impressions are good - it really is a lot simpler than Brandfame, and the only obstacle now could be convincing advertisers to take the plunge. I asked Nadim about his strategy for drawing in both advertisers and publishers, and how he plans to compete in an already flooded advertising market…

“Online-advertising is definitely overcrowded. In-video advertising is still in its early stages and a lot of companies are all fighting for the same slice of the pie. The main problem is that if you want to use most of these advertising networks you must be doing your own video distribution or you have to join their network. For people distributing their videos on YouTube for example, that means giving up their audience on YouTube when switching. For most, this is not something they will even consider. Videorix differentiate itself in being platform independent. You can be distributing your videos on your own website, on Youtube, Metacafe, … it doesn’t matter. You can still use Videorix.

Also, most in-video advertising networks will take a 50% to 70% cut on advertising revenue. Videorix being a direct selling marketplace, you get 100% of advertising revenues. Sure, there are usage fees for advertisers, but when an advertiser says they want to pay $50 to get their ad in your video, you, the publisher, get $50 when you put their ad in your video.”

The service is still in beta, but already showing great promise, and time will tell if Videorix can gain a foothold in video advertising, and for video publishers and advertisers alike, there’s really no excuse not to give it a try.

Sign up with the promotional code ‘startupearth‘ and get $50 dropped into your account. Free money is always good, and proof positive that it’s not what you know, it’s what you read. ;)