Facilitating niche video channels

Now that the YouTube era of internet content is well under way, with video playing an ever-increasing role in everything from social networking to political elections, it’s time for verticalization to usher in the next stage. Right on cue, Magnify has launched a service that helps web publishers bring subject-specific video channels to their own websites. Launched in beta version about a year ago, Magnify features a meta-search tool that combs the web for videos matching a site’s specific focus, such as aviation, soccer or college life. Users can also upload their own video content, and the resulting mix is available for sharing, rating and ranking by the community as well as integrating into playlists. Magnify provides the templates and controls publishers need each step along the way, including site design and customization; video search, uploading, storage, bandwidth and sharing; and advertising, community, statistics and network tools. The service is free to users and its business model is based on shared advertising revenue with the websites that use its service. Magnify has grown from 20 sites to more than 2,000 user-generated video channels since its launch. The site’s creators explain: “We built Magnify because we believe that everyone has a story to tell and we wanted to give you a platform to tell that story with video. We wanted to make it easy for you to get video and easy for you to share video with the people that make your site or blog so great—your members and visitors.” By enabling video and fostering increased user interaction, Magnify brings critical functionality to sites competing for attention in a rich-media Internet environment where the bar is higher every day. It also marks the next stage of the video era: general sites have had their day—now it’s time for the niche, vertical contenders to take hold. Let the diversification proceed! (Related: Launch your own mobile network.) Spotted by: Peter Yu