These are early days and in the coming weeks we’ll also invite a small group of partners across other industries, in addition to independent film, to participate in this new option. Anything that brings more content to the YouTube community is a good thing. And making content available for rent will give our partners unprecedented control over the distribution of their work — they can decide the price of their videos and the rental duration; they can decide when and where their content is available; and they can keep 100% of their rights.

The videos will cost around $5 but the exact price will be set by individual filmmakers. Coverage from USA Today mentions that YouTube will split revenues, but will give the lion’s share to the filmmaker.

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In a similar position is Citysearch. As we have discussed here in the recent past Citysearch is working to update and expand its offerings to a much larger audience. The competition that is coming up in the rear view mirror for these guys are the likes of Yelp!.

So what makes sense for two long time players in their respective verticals who are maybe starting to show their age? Combine forces of course. As reported by cnet, the new MySpace Local will

be rooted in existing listings from Citysearch (restricted to major U.S. cities) that are souped up with social features like the ones that you might see on a band or celebrity’s MySpace page (photos, videos, comments, and the like). It’s launching with just “restaurants,” “bars,” and “nightlife” categories, but will eventually expand–and it’ll only be available to a select number of users this week before rolling out to the rest of MySpace’s U.S. users.

One feature is seeing reviews of these places from actual friends. The contention is that anonymous reviews carry less meaning than those that come from a trusted and known source. Can’t say I can argue that point.

Down the line is the possibility of seeing reviews from celebrities, influencers and all around cool people. Considering the age of most MySpace users this could be interesting to them. Will it attract new users to MySpace? No way to tell but who wouldn’t be interested in having someone like Plaxico Burress tell us where the best nightclub to shoot yourself in the leg is in New York City?

Jeff Berman, president of sales and marketing at MySpace, said that

research showed about 50 percent of active Citysearch users have MySpace profiles that they check at least once a month. “There is healthy overlap, but there is also a healthy new audience to be reached”

That’s an interesting statistic but even with our jaded view of what is actually social it seems that using the benchmark of viewing a site at least once a month is not exactly setting a high bar. If you visit any site just once a month do you really care what’s going on there?

As with all pairings like these, only time will tell if there will be benefit for either party. One thing is certain though. Neither one of these Internet stalwarts are standing still but can they overcome the new breed of social media sites that can afford to be very selective on who they partner with? The likes of Facebook and Twitter are growing despite themselves at times. That’s hard to compete with for sure.

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Well, okay. It’s not called that. It’s called the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Same difference, right? The faces along the top of WEF website pretty much say it all: Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Tony Blair, Bono. It’s kind of a big deal.

The list of industry partners is impressive, too, made up of all the companies in the world that have, generally, created our current reality.

As the Masters of the Universe, then, gather this coming January to discuss the world’s pressing issues, Google and YouTube will be presenting them with user-submitted answers to the pressing "Davos Question," which is: "What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?"

YouTube users have until January 1st to submit their video answers.

Now, before you gasp and worry that answers like "We need more cowbell" or "More boobs in more places" will slip through to our world leaders, thus wasting the opportunity, you need to know there is a user-generated, wisdom-of-crowds, populist filtering mechanism in place.

The YouTube community will be ranking the answers, and the highest ranked solutions to the world’s problems will be featured at Davos. So, unlike the debates, the submissions will be filtered via the community instead of a group of CNN suits, who we remember ignored some of the better questions.

Still there’s a chance that the crowd gets unruly, which could be a lot of fun (or embarrassing for the populace), or even that the winning answer is deemed unfit by a Google suit – hopefully that’s not possible.

But here’s where my cynicism really kicks in: Though it’s a wonderful idea that offers unprecedented access to world leaders and an unprecedented voice to the populace, I wonder how many suits watch the presentation and respond, "That was cute; now back to building the empire."

Nay, there’s still hope I hope. And it seems like a good start. 

These lucky few included such noted contributors at lonelygirl15. Despite promises to bring the program to more of their content creators, for the last seven months there hasn’t been any news on this front.

Today, YouTube announces that they’re opening up the Partners Program to a much broader group of videomakers. Anyone in the United States or Canada can apply to be in the Partners Program now.

The other criteria:

• You create original videos suitable for online streaming.
• You own the copyrights and distribution rights for all audio and video content that you upload — no exceptions.
• You regularly upload videos that are viewed by thousands of YouTube users.

The premise behind the program is simple:

These partners decide which of their videos they would like to generate revenue on YouTube, and in turn, they receive a portion of the revenue generated from ads that run next to those videos. Even in this limited release, the program has been an amazing success – already, millions of video views each week are earning revenue for our partners.

While this issue hasn’t been directly addressed, I would assume that, if YouTube offered InVideo overlay ads on original videos and participating content providers chose that ad format for some or all of their videos, the videomakers would then receive a share of the revenue from that ad as well.

Is it worth it? YouTube reports on their test group:

Many users who joined the program months ago have already seen great success. Those partners who are regularly producing videos with over 1M views are earning several thousand dollars per month.

Another bonus: YouTube doesn’t require an exclusivity agreement to participate, meaning that you can upload videos to other sites even while those videos are on YouTube in the Partners Program.

However, not everyone who applies will get in. At the conclusion of their announcement video, YouTube encourages rejected applicants to “keep uploading and apply again later.” YouTube doesn’t state whether everyone meeting the criteria listed on the partner site will be automatically accepted.

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Moderator:

• Rand Fishkin

Speakers:

Vanessa Fox, Features Editor, Search Engine Land, Entrepreneur in Residence, Ignition Partners.

Michael Gray, President, Atlas Web Service.

Alexander Barbara, CEO, ReidBrown Enterprises, Inc.

Laura Fitton, Principal, Pistachio Consulting.

Rand who is moderating this time, says it is important to monetize our social media endeavours sometimes.

First up is Vanessa Fox, Features Editor, Search Engine Land, Entrepreneur in Residence, Ignition Partners. Vanessa says page Views have no worth unless you maintain and operate a CPM ad model. Many a times, people focus so much on page views singularly that we lose sight of the other significant stuff. Vanessa pulls out the page views for her sites. Apparently on the 6th of September, her page views went over the room. This apparently was the day, the Vanessa Hudgens scandal broke out. Apparently viewers wanted to see nude images of Hudgens, not Fox. Heh heh.

Hook ‘em and keep ‘em, says Vanessa. She stresses on the significance of maintaining traffic by making viral material while also having other content to keep people interested. The content you have should be of prime interest to the people who visit your site. They should want to stay.

Vanessa on converting visitors into customers:

• Foremost, your viral marketing must be relevant for your site.
• Make it easy for your visitors to see what your site has on offer.
• Provide multiple links to other pages on your site.
• Think about your goals are and funnel your site’s users into a conversion path.

Lastly, Fox says that Search Traffic has more value in comparison to Social Media Traffic as Search Traffic is equivalent to determined views while Social Media traffic equals to web browsers who have no exclusive target interest.

Next up is Graywolf aka Michael Gray, President, Atlas Web Service. Michael opened by saying social media fshould be used for sales and conversions. This is an advanced tactic Apparently, sales should only be part of your vision and not the enitire project.

What types of products work?

• Products (physical and virtual). These fare better than services.
• Consumer goods. Almost always better than B2B)
• Impulse purchases
• Low or "door buster" prices. People are always sensitive to prices.
• Technology related items generally do better.

Examples:

• Thisnext.com: The site has products for which they have a specific gift guide.
• Techiediva.com: Shows what people purchase during holidays. For eg: They targeted Cybowe Monday.
• Style Dash.com: Shows how to dress like celebs for less. Also featured are pages of affiliated links.

Pitfalls:

• The offer you have must be clear, especially restrictions or quantities.
• Always anticipate demand and have the right amount of stock.
• The worst thing you could do is failure to deliver products.
• Monitor and keep a check on what people are saying about you. If needed, do some damgae control.
• Incorporate video and podcasts. Experiment but know the space you are getting into before you jump the gun.

Apparently, SMM is the most effective way to generate sales for products & gadgets, and not really for services. If used well, Digg can also bring in sales.

Manage expectations for long terms of success:

• Make up your mind on whether a hybrid or dedicated delivery channel is best. Finalise on what is right for your audience.
• Give people the option of receiving content which ever way they want: email, RSS, SMS, whatever.
• Use trends and current events in terms of offerings.

Alternative Content: Video

• Will it blend? iPhone
• eBook – some guy used a video of a sexy woman and sold many books
• Diet.com – When people see others lose weight, they’d be more compelled to buy.

Alternative content: podcasts

• Drop links in your podcasts.
• Ricky’s Picks (Disney podcast)

Alternative content: Twitter

• CarnivalCruise
• JetBlue
• SouthwestAir

Third speaker of the day is Alexander Barbara, CEO, ReidBrown Enterprises, Inc, with a case study.

Alexander put up a site on Digg about a health and wellness post which was aimed towards women. Alexander and the writer worked on list-type articles and gave their best. The article was submitted in Digg twice.

Wednesday afternoon (3PM): The post received 38 Diggs. Within 5 days, the post received over 28,000 visits.

Monday morning (11AM): The same post received 57 Diggs and reached the home page. Within 5 days, the post received over 19,000 visits.

Point being, whether your site can handle the incoming traffic or not. When you are on the Digg homepage, it is common to receive 60-100 hits per second. If yours is a shared host, webmasters will shut down your site thinking it’s an attack- DDOS attack. If you are uncertain on whether your server can handle the traffic, redirect it to some other sites. Use mod_rewrite or a temporary 302 redirect to a static page. Another option is Google cache or use the free Coral cache.

On the question of quality of traffic, Alexander pulls out a CTR of the number of ads. He recommends avoiding advertisements for the first two days or so and then put them back on the 3rd day. This shows a better conversion rate. Another common phenomenon that takes place is the increased number of RSS subscribers. Usually, the same people will unsubscribe some time later.

About monetizing traffic, there are two ways to do it.

Direct monetizing: CPM based model beats others like AdSense, targeted ads etc.

Indirect monetizing: This is a better way of receiving links, subscribers, links etc.

What we learned:

Know your audience. Understand both your site and Digg audience.

Choose your monetization approach well.

Be prepared for traffic.

Last speaker from the panel is Laura Fitton, Principal, Pistachio Consulting. Fitton will talk about how to create long-lasting values through social media. Apparently, Laura was a stay-at-home mom wth two kids who started blogging and connecting via social networks in March. Now, she consults people.

Apparently, ads are ailing. Many people make money through via helping others sell. However, there is more money to make in making others buy. Social media works because it helps you understand how you can help others buy stuff. Most important thing for people to do is listen. Markets are conversations. Conversations suck if you don’t listen. If yours is a big brand (she take s the example of Dell), people are talking about you. Set up Google alerts to keep track of what is being said about you and engage everyone.

Social media drives traffic. If you become part of a social network, you bring in people who are interested in buying. Laura personally uses Twitter for business (Fitton has 800 followers). She suggests twittering about sales, and specials. Social media makes money but on a long term, it builds value and helps in business. Your company should have lasting value. What value does your business have and how can social media improve it? If you use a gimmick to bring people in, it’wll work but only temporarily. It’s about teaching a man to fish and create lasting value.

Fitton says social media is nothing new and that it is all about knowledge. NO tricks, tips or shortcuts will do. Gaming won’t do because in social media, it’s your customers who write the rules. If they are unhappy with you, they’ll leave.

Fitton takes the example of Facebook Beacon. Once the poster child of social media who screwed up bad. This is a warning. Beacon informed your friends about your purchases. It pissed off Charlene Li, channel partners, bloggers, pundits, Move On, mainstream media, etc. Careful not to violate your own terms and conditions. Overstock is getting sued for this.

Focus only on that which matters and lasts. Help. Listen. Make yourself useful. Build love around your values and this will last.

IMAGE SOURCE: Andy Beal

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"Yahoo worked very closely with Gap to help it refine the idea and then provided all the services in terms of building [the site] out and hosting it," said Conn Fishburn, director of social media strategy for Yahoo.

The site will feature video greetings by celebrities from Gap’s holiday ad campaign, including Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Angie Harmon Sehorn, James Sehorn, and James Marsden. Users will be able to vote for their favorite greetings. Winners will receive a limited edition Vespa LX50 scooter. Offline, a GapTidings mobile film studio will travel around New York City to record greetings.

Users will be able to download Gap holiday email signatures, desktop wallpaper and create a widget with a video for MySpace or Facebook pages. The site will include Yahoo’s photo sharing site, Flickr, which will feature photos from the mobile film studio.

"We really believe that marketing is a holistic practice," Fishburn said. "It’s not just about online versus offline, but really blending the two together in a seamless way."

Google Will Bid On Spectrum

The biggest players in the industry are expected to bid aggressively for spectrum, which because of the federal requirement that television broadcasters switch to digital transmissions is becoming available. The spectrum is said to be ideal for high-speed wireless broadband, especially because of its ability to penetrate walls.

Google has promised a minimum of $4.6 billion for "the C block" of spectrum, the auction reserve price, the winner of which will be required by the FCC to allow users to download any device to their wireless devices and attach any compatible device to the network.

Verizon originally sued to stop the requirement, but eventually withdrew their suit. Earlier this week, the company enacted a similar policy on its own in advance of an announcement to use fourth generation LTE technology for its next evolution of wireless services, which will come available approximately the same time as the 700MHz spectrum.

The LTE technology will also be used by rival AT&T, meaning that future Verizon and AT&T devices will be able transferable (at least one way, unless AT&T opens up, too.) AT&T may have bailed on the 700 MHz auction with its purchase of Aloha Partners’ chunk of spectrum $2.5 billion, effectively setting the price for available spectrum in the federal auction.

Significant pressure from Google is thought to be a key reason both telecommunications companies made such aggressive moves forward. Google’s presence in the auction ensures more competition and more open networks.

"We believe it’s important to put our money where our principles are," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today’s wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet."

Google made the announcement this morning in advance of Monday’s application deadline, after which Google is forbidden to talk about the auction due to the FCC’s anti-collusion rules.

The newspaper industry has always been more interested in keeping money in-house rather than sharing even a little with others. Publishers have big egos, and depending on someone else to bring home the bacon doesn’t have much appeal, even with the newsprint industry facing financial troubles.

Even the newspaper-savvy duo of Yahoo’s Sue Decker and Hilary Schneider, architects of Yahoo’s HotJobs alliance with the print classified industry, aren’t appealing enough to keep the publishers’ eyes from wandering to other girls and fantasizing about their revenue undergarments.

Classified Intelligence recounted the recent deal with Kaango by Hearst and MediaNews, a $20 million infusion that gave them an 80 percent stake in the company. Kaango has deals with about a hundred newspapers for community-oriented classified sites.

There is no mincing of words when it comes to why Hearst and MediaNews bought into Kaango, as well as cutting Lee Enterprises in for a ten percent stake. They want to take on Craigslist as well as eBay’s classifieds product, Kijiji.

Details of the deal came as news to Yahoo, according to Classified Intelligence. A Yahoo spokesperson said the company was not aware of the Kaango announcement and requested more details about it from Classified Intelligence.

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Medio will offer users the ability to search and browse through content on CBS Sports Mobile, CBS Mobile News and CW Mobile Web sites. Medio’s technology attracted CBS Mobile because it s was mobile-centric in concept and design according to Cyriac Roeding, executive vice president, CBS Mobile.

Mobile searches about a sports team will return results that provide a snapshot of updated scores, injuries and news about the specific team. Ads related to the users search terms will be displayed next to the results.

The partnership with CBS is the official launch of Medio Mobile Search for Publishers, an ad supported search service created and optimized for the mobile Web. Medio MobileNow is one of the largest aggregated mobile search advertising networks in the U.S.

"CBS has great insight into mobile consumption from their audience and clear vision for extending brand loyalty beyond CBS’ outdoor, television and online media entities. We’re excited to partner with CBS on creating a standard for what consumers should expect from a mobile experience," said Brian Lent, Chief Executive Officer for Medio Systems.