iWorld
Networkplay Unveils VideoPlay
MUMBAI: Networkplay, Indian subsidiary of Gruner+Jahr takes video advertising to a whole new level with the launch of VideoPlay, a revolutionary byproduct of its recent acquisition – Vxchange. Further enhanced with multiple features, added benefits, VideoPlay is a digital video ecosystem that offers an open marketplace platform for video content and ad inventory to content providers, publishers and advertisers.
An easy-to-use marketplace platform, VideoPlay enables trading of video content and advertisements. The platform provides syndication opportunities to content providers while enabling publishers to add value to their existing content by picking videos from the platform and hosting it on their websites. Advertisers will also be able to leverage this scheme by delivering ads on various genres of video content. The platform offers both custom flash-based video players as well as HTML5 compatible video player to deliver video through embed codes, thus ensuring that it supports all devices including mobiles and tablets.
Advertisers will get to choose from ad formats such as pre-roll, post-roll, mid-roll and overlay image ads. Depending on the type of user (content provider, publisher, advertiser) VideoPlay provides customised user interfaces and functionality features.
Commenting on this launch, Mr. Kuldip Singh, CEO Gruner + Jahr, India says, “G+J’s strategy for Networkplay focuses on further growth of the existing business and expansion of the product portfolio. With India as Asia’s 3rd largest online video market after China and Japan, and online video consumption has grown to more than 3.7 bn videos as against 1.8 bn in 2011, the market is witnessing shifts in ad budgets inclined heavily towards video advertising. The launch of VideoPlay brings to fore, Networkplay’s focus on building strong technological competence in the video space, thus differentiating itself from other players and helping it pave the way for a long-term position in this segment.”
According to Ampreet Singh, CEO Networkplay, “The company is taking myriad initiatives to establish itself as a large media firm. The core continues to remain digital and due diligence by our team in the market with several content providers, publishers and advertisers, further reinforces our product offering as of immense value to all. Our successful campaigns delivered in a couple of months for clients like Visa, KFC, Mitsubishi Electric & Virgin Atlantic have made us very visible in the market. The performance on these campaigns has been above industry standards and we expect it to be even better in the coming months.”
The launch of VideoPlay, marks the beginning of a series of exciting novel schemes. Networkplay has already tied up with various content providers and publishers for this proposal and is expecting more traction in the coming months.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
