Here's how it works: A company called EveryZing has developed a speech-recognition technology that can transcribe all spoken words into rich, searchable text. EveryZing then offers those videos in a proprietary media player that includes a search field.
Users then search for keywords and receive a highlighted list of the keywords' appearances in the video. Users can click the hyperlinked keywords to jump to the relevant part of the video. EveryZing also lets companies stream YouTube videos through their media player with the same functionality.
Tech writer Rafe Needleman said that this kind of tech opens up the web's video space for more targeted investment.
"Making videos more searchable is good for users, but the real business benefit to this technology is advertising," he wrote for CNET News. "It allows marketing programs to be attached to particular points in a video, possibly automatically."
At first glance, such technology might seem useless in adult, which mostly markets videos that truly begin when the talking stops.
"I've had the pleasure myself to transcribe an adult video recording once, and I can tell you I realized people that are in the state of maximal excitement are very, very limited in their verbal abilities," said Carl Borowitrz, VP Marketing for Big Sister Media.
Eric Matis, VP of Marketing for ICS Entertainment, told XBIZ that he suspected such technology might be abused.
"Imagine an illegal tube site taking that technology and pushing themselves to the top of Keywords in Google," said Matis, whose company is a division of Playboy Enterprises. "You could literally see them gobble up an even larger chunk of traffic that would normally pay for those items and hurt the industry on an even much larger level."
But Braincash Project Manager Cindy Gawrych saw more use in the idea.
"When a surfer is paying per minutes, then the surfer can maximize their time and satisfaction, especially when they have to search through 100,000 videos," she told XBIZ.
In any event, EveryZing's terms of service currently prohibit any adult content, although adult producers could still promote themselves through EveryZing's service with PG-13 videos on YouTube.
For more information, visit EveryZing.com.
