Will Blinkx Get Bought?

I got a press call today about Blinkx's newly announced RSS video/multimedia feed. That quickly led to a broader discussion about video search and the online advertising marketplace.

Blinkx is an impressive upstart that has, through scrappy innovation, been able to put itself in contention with the likes of AOL, Google and Yahoo! in the video-search arena. This is just raw speculation, but it seems to me that someone (probably a traditional media company) will want to acquire the company before too long.

There's a lot of money out there from traditional media companies looking to buy online brands, audiences and/or technologies.

Online video/video search is going to represent a signficant advertising opportunity. This is where the TV audience is eventually going.

According to a recent study from BIGresearch, 18-24 year olds are most influenced by "new media" (e.g., Internet, cell phones, MP3s, etc.) vs. traditional media (e.g., TV, print newspapers, directories and radio). That's why Rupert Murdoch was willing to pay US$580 million for MySpace's parent.

Simultaneously, ad/marketing firm ZenithOptimedia cut its global ad-spending forecast because of what it perceives to be waning interest in U.S. network TV advertising in favor of other media and specifically the Internet.

Broadband video/TV/video search (whatever you want to call this "space") is developing quickly. And Blinkx is an independent company that, unlike Yahoo!, AOL or Google could potentially be acquired.