Now brands can confidently advertise in user-generated video content (UGC). ScanScout's patent-pending Brand Protector technology analyzes the video to make sure brands are paired only with safe, relevant content.

Say you're an advertiser and you want to reach audiences of user-generated videos. However, you want to make sure that your brand message will only be seen adjacent to the most appropriate content and shown to the right user at the right time.

Now, you can. ScanScout is the first company to offer advertisers and user-generated content providers brand protection, embracing the marketing opportunities UGC offers without alienating viewers. The company’s Brand Protector software™ – a media industry first – is an advanced technology designed to analyze online video content and determine if a video is an appropriate match for an advertiser’s brand before serving the ad.

The technology, designed to ensure that advertisers’ brands are not aligned with content they deem out of context or inappropriate and enable brands to embrace user-generated video content in a brand-safe manner, dramatically expands video advertising opportunities for advertisers and publishers and continues to be well-received by advertisers seeking to place their messages in user-generated video content.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has awarded ScanScout with the initial Trademark protections for its Brand Protector term, and the company’s application for Patent protection on the technology and process is pending approval.

According to Eric Druckenmiller, Media Director of Deep Focus, “While we know our audience is consuming user-generated media, the priority of our client’s brand security has limited our efforts to date. What ScanScout’s Brand Protector technology enables is getting us significantly closer to a secure solution in this space.”

Doug McFarland, ScanScout’s CEO, said, “People have been talking about this with regard to interactive. But, the fact is that there has never been any meaningful brand protection technology or product in any media…If an automotive advertiser bought [an ad] on the evening news, for example, and their spot followed news of a large pileup on the freeway, that was just part of the risk. What Brand Protector does is mitigate that risk, making the world of UGC and other digital media platforms for brand advertisers.”

And brand advertisers agree.

Since its launch earlier this year, ScanScout has become one of the fastest growing, most-chronicled digital marketing technology providers – with early adopter technology installations already in place at dozens of professional/broadcast as well as user-generated video sites. The company has also obtained significant advertising commitments from numerous national agencies and brands.

“When you’re operating a service that allows anyone to upload content it’s important to give advertisers the opportunity to pair their message with the best, and safest, content available. ScanScout and their Brand Protector technology help give big brands the ability to safely reach viewers of blip.tv shows,” said Mike Hudack, CEO of blip.tv. “We work with ScanScout because their technology and approach to advertising placement ensure a safe experience for brand advertisers and high revenue for blip.tv and the show producers who use our platform.”

And just recently, eBaum’s World, one of the Internet’s premier online entertainment sites and a ZVUE™ Corporation (NASDAQ: ZVUE) Network property, has entered into a strategic partnership with ScanScout, using its Brand Protector technology to provide contextually relevant overlay video ads within the millions of video clips it streams daily to its large and loyal audience.

ScanScout’s proprietary content matching technology will increase eBaum’s World ability to monetize its Website traffic by automatically matching relevant ads with the commercial and user-generated content (UGC) on eBaum’s World, in a manner that is unobtrusive to users but effective in eliciting interested clicks. Additionally, ScanScout’s unique Brand Protector software goes one step further to also assure that advertisers’ brands will only be associated with the most appropriate content featured on eBaum’s World.

“The implementation of ScanScout on eBaum’s World will demonstrate our ability to extend revenue generating partnerships across our properties and provide comprehensive video advertising solutions that can be seamlessly deployed across ZVUE Networks,” said Jeff Oscodar, President and CEO of ZVUE Corporation. “ScanScout’s recent USPTO wins indicate the power of their technology, which we will be leveraging on behalf of our advertisers and viewers, assuring precise contextual, compelling and behaviorally relevant delivery of ads.”

“Working with eBaum’s World and a terrific network like ZVUE’s is a great opportunity for ScanScout, especially since our machine-learning technology keeps finding that not all UGC is created equal,” said ScanScout CEO McFarland. “The kind of invitation-only methods that have proven so effective elsewhere on the web are becoming very effective at monetizing far more UGC than had been thought possible. We look forward to continuing to prove this for ZVUE Networks and for eBaum’s World.”