‘Video Bars’ Integrate Nat’l Brands, Local Agents for Insurance, Real Estate

Internet display and text advertising are great. But nothing really matches video for engagement and open rates. A number of players are specializing in SMB video. A new company, Webshoz (pronounced “Web shows”) is focused on presenting an onscreen “bar” of several video choices that viewers can click “video previews” on demand.

The application, which was built by Placelinks, may be used for national services (i.e., showing 5 top movies for DirectTV). But CEO Alexandrea Day anticipates several possible uses for local players, who can be targeted based on the user’s IP address and also provides a full set of analytics.

Real estate brokerages, for instance, can highlight specific homes in the first three video segments, and an agent in the fourth based on location. A major brokerage like Century 21 can use the service’s dynamic rotation to integrate any of its thousands of agents.

Similarly, insurance companies (i.e., State Farm) can highlight several types of insurance products in the first few frames, and introduce a video for the local franchise holder in the fourth. Travel is also envisioned as a key local application, and could even tie video previews with daily deals. “Every hotel has a video and wants to make a deal,” says Day.

Day notes that Webshoz launched 15 months ago with angel funding, and has a patent pending on its technology. She says that average videos are viewed about 15 seconds.