This is an interesting idea. Take video content and ad an overlay with object that users can interact with (sound better than “click” ). The idea is to create a connection between the content shown in a video and for example a product on another site, by allowing the user the option to see a link and click if they find it interesting. The video content is the ad, and done like this, it makes the whole commercial side of things less obtrusive to the viewer.

What remained as a problem was how to identify things in the video that users may want to learn more about (for example details about a certain brand, or object that appeared in the video). No artificial intelligence available could do this properly, but Overlay.TV thought of a way to by-pass this problem by involving users directly. Here’s how:

“Users would be able to identify, classify, tag and comment on objects inside the content. Users could be professionals working for advertising companies with obvious access to product placement details or they might be outside the advertising world looking to monetize content on their own site. There could also be users looking to be paid to use their familiarity with snowboard gear or their knowledge of fine china in exchange for marking up content. Getting users to identify objects in video would be straightforward in the specialized world we live in. All they would need is an incentive and that was simple too. Since companies pay for referrals, especially when they result in a sale, sharing that money with the user would be the perfect incentive.”

Overlay.TV has signed deals with many marketing affiliates to provide users a way to earn money from their creations. These include companies like Apple, Amazon, Tiger Direct, WallMart, Macy’s, Office Depot, and more.

Their promotional video (via Mashable) is very “amusing” to say the least. I like the way they gave it the early 80’s touch.

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