Denuo to Advise Blinkx on Video Search and Network Ads

Publicis-owned consultancy Denuo will advise Blinkx on development of the video search firm’s ad products under a new relationship between the two.

The paired companies plan to collaborate on ad formats, targeting methods and ideal environments for video ads on platforms operated by Blinkx, and on video-based advertising in general. Denuo clients may also place campaigns on the Blinkx site and on its contextual video ad engine, called AdHoc.

“Denuo has access to many agencies and clients that have an interest in tapping into [our] audience,” said Blinkx CEO Suranga Chandratillake. “We will work together to figure out ads and units that are affective. We will launch those on our site doing a lot of testing and trialing.”

Denuo’s head of new ventures and partnerships practice, Tim Hanlon, stessed the importance of discovery in the partnership. He emphasized the necessity of consumers not only finding relevant programming, but also advertising.

When it launched, Denuo established relationships with a number of up and coming Web start-ups, offering advisory services in exchange for “first mover rights for clients” and in some cases an investment stake. It holds stakes in Brightcove and Shadow TV, among other firms.

Further details about the pairing were sketchy yesterday, though Chandratillake said the companies hoped to experiment with untried video ad strategies. He said an example might include possibilities for running video ads on Blinkx search results pages. The company’s results pages currently display text ads only.

“We’re a search engine. We’re very interested in how we can build video advertising into that experience,” he said. “Can we actually have sponsored video matches?”

Blinkx has tried to diversify over the past year, rolling out a contextual ad targeting system called AdHoc and announcing plans for a premium video destination to be called Blinkx Broadband TV. BBTV was originally planned for Fall 2007, but the company postponed its release and now expects to unveil it in March.

– Rebecca Lieb contributed reporting to this story.