14 January 2008

Now that traditional ad supported video is losing ground via DVR fast-forward, wouldn't it be great if the ad-supported model could be migrated to one of cable's new services?

San Jose, CA-based Pudding Media
believes its platform does exactly that trick for telephony services,
by modifying session initiation protocol (SIP) call setup sequences and
using voice recognition technology. Its initial target is free VoIP services over a broadband connection, but the concept has applications for network quality cable IP telephony as well.

Similar to new modes of embedded advertising in video, the key to
Pudding Media's product is to make the consumer experience the ad as a
value-added service rather than a sales pitch. Ariel Maisnos, the CTO
of Pudding Media, sees these services as a way for a service provider
to gain ad-based revenue from free VoIP services, which will be
available to consumers whether or not they are obtained directly from
the service provider. He described multiple implementation scenarios.