Metacafe responds to Producer Rewards changes

Earlier this week, Metacafe users reacted to new guidelines on the Producer Rewards Program announced on Monday. The program that pays creators of high traffic short videos now limits what kinds of videos are eligible. Metacafe removed videos that were copycats, sexually arousing, promotional videos, or potentially harmful, which caused uproar amongst some of the community.  We talked to Metacafe’s Michelle Cox, Director of Corporate Communications, so the company could clear the air.

 

Cox noted that while yes, producers whose content was pulled from the site reacted negatively, there was just as many that applauded the new guidelines. Response was split about 50/50 between those opposed and those in support of the eligibility requirements, according to Cox.

 

The Producer Rewards Program now explicitly excludes the following types of videos:

-Videos that have sexual arousal as their primary purpose

-Videos that are primary promotional vehicles for a product or service

-Videos that merely feature a person who is not doing anything entertaining or exception

-Instructional videos that is harmful such as a how-to to bomb-making

-“Trend exhausted” videos that are specifically copycats

 

Metacafe is a video sharing site that attracts 30 million unique visitors per month. Previously, if a video received more than 20,000 views, the creator received $100 for those numbers and $5 per 1,000-view after that.  The earnings remain the same, but guidelines have changed.  The company pulled inappropriate videos from the site in order to stop the view count, thus ensuring the correct payment to the producer. Did the company notify the producers of the disappearing work? Yes, but only at the same time it removed those videos. Producers who suddenly found their videos missing from the site could request that they be republished. They would have to email Metacafe with the understanding they could no longer earn money on those videos.

 

One of the main updates to the eligibility guidelines is the “Trends Exhausted” list. Over the past year, Metacafe witnessed a “copycat phenomenon,” according to Cox, in which videos were replicas of other popular videos with the same shots that led to “viewer fatigue.” The new Trends Exhausted list will spell out which themes have been played out. 

“It’s also about encouraging a diversity of content,” said Cox.

Another guideline that is causing some tension between producers and Metacafe is “videos that have sexual arousal as their primary purpose” will no longer be eligible to earn money. For example, would a video that features a woman in a low-cut shirt be eligible for the Rewards? It depends. If that low cut shirt is a small element in the story line, it would be eligible.   If the video were a solely focused, straight shot of just that low cut shirt, it wouldn’t be. 

“Context is really important. Metacafe, in the big picture, is focused on helping to develop short form video as an entertainment genre,” Cox said.

All videos uploaded to the site still undergo the same rigorous review process. After users upload and submit videos, they wait to be published to public. The review process is based on internal technology and a panel of judges pulled from 80,000 volunteers from the community.

 

“We’re definitely not in the business of making editorial decisions about what content is good or bad. We leave that up to the audience,” said Cox.

 

When we last spoke to Metacafe co-founder and CPO Eyal Hertzog at CES 2008, the exec called the Rewards Program an “equal opportunity” for its users, suggesting a video platform of democratic video on the Web. 

 

Cox responded, “It is certainly our hope that we are actually encouraging more submissions with some of these changes and making them a little bit more clear and transparent about what it takes to be eligible in the program. I would definitely still categorize it as an equal opportunity system. Yes, there are some guidelines around it, but that’s always been the case.”

In 2007, Metacafe gave away $1 million to 600 successful producers, including the creator of “Back Massage Techniques.” When asked if available money was a factor in the company’s decision to limit eligible videos, Cox replied that Metacafe has actually expanded its budget for the Rewards Program. It anticipates giving away more money in the coming year.

 

“We want to see the innovative, the creative works that truly do entertain you if you’re a viewer or inspire you if you’re a creator. It’s about finding those outstanding, original works and rewarding the people creating them,” she said.