RAMP-The Content Optimization Company

In a goal to raise $30 million nationally for Breast Cancer, 30,000 walkers in Boston participated in the 14th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraiser. As October is the National Breast Cancer Awareness month, we thought it would be appropriate to point out some of the various video and audio podcasts that provide useful health tips and information including Katie Couric’s broadcast on Breast Cancer Awareness.

NPR: Health & Science gives in-depth reports on medicine and health, providing the latest information on issues such as heart disease, depression and stroke.

Family Health Radio, provides understandable information on common health problems and the latest health care developments from the College of Osteopathic Medicine and The Center For Public Media at Ohio University.

The Health and Happiness Podcast provides tips and hints for a longer and happier life through nutritional guidance and vitamin help.

With the introduction of he PodZinger Advertising Platform, we are encouraging all podcasters to sign up to participate…. and it’s Free. this is a great way to get your podcast found and make money.

If you have already registered your content with PodZinger, expect an email in the next week or two letting you know the email under which you’re registered. You’ll need this to sign in. If you haven’t registered your content yet, just register here. In both cases, check the “opt-in” box for the advertising program, it’s that easy.

Online content is revolutionizing the consumers consumption of media and advertising has begun to adapt to this new environment. Get in the ground floor with us. We’re looking forward to it!

Podcasting News finds three very interesting job postings on Craig’s List seeking “talents” for podcasting. Bikini Model, Drag Queen Model and Pregnant Model. The most interesting being the Pregnant Model for the PregTastic Podcast. Accordingly to the site,

PregTASTIC is a weekly podcast (online radio) for pregnant women, by pregnant women. Many of our podcasters are having their babies and we are looking for pregnant women to fill their seats.”

We checked out the site and were impressed by the kind of support they received in the community. This is definitely the long-tail of podcasting… there is something out there for everyone.

In recent BlogZinger postings, I’ve been hinting that PodZinger would soon be announcing an advertising platform that was unlike any other out there and provided more benefits to the consumers, content creators and advertisers. Well…today, we officially launched our first-of-its-kind online video advertising platform, enabling advertisers to serve relevant ads in audio and video content!With the new ad platform, podcasters are able to monetize their content and receive half of all generated revenue. Using content classification technology and algorithms for analyzing consumer intent and aggregate consumer usage, PodZinger solves the problem of connecting consumers with relevant advertising in online audio and video content. The new service goes far beyond traditional text and click-through advertising services that advertisers are dependant on today, providing enhanced online experiences for content creators, advertisers and consumers.

We’ve already gotten some great feedback from the media, and I’ve included some of the highlights below from Red Herring, The Boston Herald, Adotas, ClickZ and more. Feel free to let us know what you think of our new platform, or if you’d like to become involved in the program yourself!

Red Herring, PodZinger Targets Ads, October 5, 2006

Boston Herald, Video podcast ads on tap, October 5, 2006

Adotas, PodZinger Opens Podcast Advertising Search Network, October 5, 2006

ClickZ, PodZinger to Offer Targeted Video Ads, October 5, 2006

MediaPost, Podzinger Rolls Out Ad Network, October 5, 2006

CNET, PodZinger to share ad revenue with podcasters, October 5, 2006

TechCrunch, Podzinger to listen for ad opportunities, October 5, 2006

The New York Times technology section today featured an article, “Some Hot Recorders for Those Cool Podcasts.” Reporter Larry Magid discusses how podcasting has created a need to expand the market for high-end portable audio gear. Today, top of the line recorders now use the same flash memory used in digital cameras and can hold up to 130 hours of compressed monaural audio. The catch? The high-end devices can cost up to $500.

We think it’s great these devices are being promoted, however for those not wishing to spend hundreds of dollars Magid did mention a couple of less expensive digital flash recorders such as the iRiver T30 for $40. There is always the option of simply using a computer microphone and audio-editing software!

We look forward to seeing future developments in portable audio gear, but ultimately what is important for a podcast is not how it is made, but who listens to it. What is the point of spending $500 to produce an immaculately sounding podcast, if no one hears it? As always, we encourage all podcasters to make sure their podcasts are registered with us and to do so if they aren’t. That way even if someone doesn’t know they are looking for your unique insight on Aardvark social dynamics, they will find it for the important research they are doing on termite eaters.

Last week, Leo Larporte announced on his blog that he launched a new advertising network for his TWiT podcasts. His first two sponsors are already big names – Dell and Visa.

The ads have started running at the beginning of all the podcasts and there have been considerably more mentions of Dell and Visa in the podcasts. For example, in one of the episodes of the Daily Giz Wiz show, Leo and Dick talk about the Excalibur Motorized Pool Lounger and Leo chimes in to say how he usually uses his Visa card to make his purchases online because it’s the safest way to buy online.

Check out the Visa’s and Dell’s mentions in the shows with PodZinger’s search.

There have been a lot of mixed responses by the listeners. Although some complain that big advertisers might affect content, most listeners understand that advertising will help finance the production of the podcasts and for podcasters to devote more time and efforts for the content. We have our thoughts on the best ways to insert advertising in audio and video content, and will tell you more about them soon!

In the Wall Street Journal today, editor William Bulkeley wrote an article entitled, “Surfing the Internet for Spoken Words:  New Technology Allows Searchers to Scour Online Audio, Video to Target Advertising,” and included PodZinger as one of the leading industry experts.  The article explores how online audio and video search engines are becoming a tapped resource for targeted advertising. 

“Audio and video have been a black space that cannot be discovered by traditional search engines,” Bulkeley quotes our CEO Alex Laats saying.    

Bulkeley discusses that, similar to targeted advertising with text-based searches such as Google and Yahoo!, PodZinger is utilizing viewers’ key word searches to enable advertisers to create relevant ads that are specifically tied to those queries.

Watching television as a little girl, I remember thinking how cool it was that no matter what show I watched, there were always commercials for my favorite toys.  It took me a few years to realize that that was just targeted advertising.  Boy, it’s amazing how far technology and advertising have come since then!

I went the first part of the first day of PodCamp Boston today, and it was a fantastic unconference. PodCamp is modeled after BarCamp, where it’s not formally organized, and anyone can put on a session simply by adding it to the schedule.

I went to Steve Garfield’s morning session where he talked about getting started podcasting and demonstrated a few of his tools by putting up a few audio and video podcasts right there (one including an introduction to PodZinger – as captured on video by Beth).

The next session I attended was put on by Casey McKinnon and Rudy Jahchan of Galacticast, where they talked about how they got started, all the different equipment they used, and the software tools they use to produce their series.

I gave a session about how PodZinger works, and had a lot of great questions from the group. [Doug Haslam from Topaz Partners had some nice things to say about my session.]

There were a lot of other people there, including Rocketboom creator (and PodZinger partner) Andrew Baron, Rocketboom producer Sherng-Lee Huang, from whom I learned how to tie my shoes, Rocketboom producer Elspeth Rountree, an old classmate of mine David Tames, and former Rocketboom host Amanda Congdon.

I wish I could have stayed past lunch on the first day, but I had some prior family commitments.

Check out a few more photos in the PodCamp Boston 2006 photo album I posted.

Amanda Congdon and Henry Houh

The first game of the NFL kicked off last night with the Dolphins vs. Steelers.  Although the polls predicted Miami to win, Pittsburgh came through with a triumphant victory of 28-17. 

Living in New England, it’s pretty hard not to have at least some idea as to what’s going on with football.  If you’re not particularly interested in it yourself, you probably still hear your co-workers, friends, family members, grocery bag boy or someone else talking about the Patriots.  Fans feel that it is the Pats’ year to win the title again.  I mean, they have won the Super Bowl three of the past five seasons.  They are bound to win it again soon.  Right?     

I myself am not a fanatic fan, but I do like to catch the highlights here and there, and with my busy schedule, it’s easier to listen to podcasts on the go.  I’ve included some of my favorite NFL ones below.

Sports Podcast Network – NBA, NFL, MLB, NASCAR, Boxing, Golf, Tennis, and More Sports Radio On Demand!
Around-the-clock sports coverage through blogs, podcasts and message boards.

Gridiron Grumblings Live! Football Show                                                                                        A live internet broadcast with Gridiron Grumblings and sidekicks Roy ‘The Instigator’ Cankosyan and John ‘Statmaster’ Rakowski.  Discusses news of the week in football, and provides some fantasy strategy, tips and more.  Airs live every Friday evening at 9:05PM ET.

The Fantasy Football Guys
Hosts in-depth discussions on the NFL in general, and Fantasy Football in particular.  

If you want to discover the most talked about teams and players or more podcast suggestions, visit PodZinger’s Zing Index at PodZinger. 

eMarketer just published an article, “What Do ‘Heavy Users’ Do Online?,” citing a study from Universal McCann that discusses how “heavy” Internet users are utilizing the Web and the impact of new media on advertising.  Since we’ve been talking about several trends in media lately, I thought it would be interesting to include some of its results. 

• 16% of people ages 16-34 used podcasting and 20% plan to use podcasting in the future

• Close to 100 million people in the U.S. (about 1/3 of the population) fell into the category of a “heavy” Internet user, which is defined as someone who’s accessed the Web at least 11 times in the past week

• IM, price-comparison sites and social networks were the most popular uses for the Web

• The most common activities were shopping and buying.  84% of the people polled said they had done both.

• 62% said that they had participated in blogging one way or another

I didn’t find the above stats too surprising, but one that definitely caught my eye was the type of technology that ‘heavy’ Internet users would miss the most if it were taken away from them.  My first guess would have been the Internet, but it is actually television with 28% of respondents.  Only 24% said that they would most miss Web sites, with email coming in close behind at 23%.  These stats exemplify how important video still is today and why content creators continue to seek new ways to drive revenue from their extensive video libraries.