Metacafe
Encyclopedia
Metacafe is a web site that specializes in short-form video entertainment in the categories of movies, video games, sports, music and TV.
The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California
, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Tel Aviv. Metacafe is privately held and its investors include Accel Partners
, Benchmark Capital
, DAG Ventures
and Highland Capital Partners
.
In its early years, Metacafe was similar to other video viewing websites such as YouTube
or Dailymotion
, but has since transformed itself into a short-form video entertainment site with several differences. The site now showcases curated, exclusive and original premium entertainment-related video content.
The company's partners include marquee content providers such as major movie studios, video game publishers, broadcast and cable TV networks, music labels and sports leagues.
The site is advertising supported, working closely with brands in the entertainment, consumer electronics, telecommunications, consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, and automotive sectors.
As of September 2011 its Alexa
global rank was 336th.
by Israeli entrepreneurs Eyal Hertzog
(Chief technical officer
) and Arik Czerniak (CEO) and raised $3 million from Benchmark Capital
. In June 2006, the company closed a Series B financing
round of $12 million. Investors included Accel Partners
and Benchmark Capital
. That September, the company moved its headquarters to Palo Alto, California
and in October, Metacafe was ranked the third largest video site in the world according to comScore
. The company is currently headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
On February 5, 2007, Erick Hachenburg, previously of Electronic Arts
and Pogo
, took over as CEO of the company. The company closed a Series C financing
round of $30 million in August, 2007 with Accel Partners
, Benchmark Capital
, DAG Ventures
and Highland Capital Partners
.
program in which video producers were paid for their original content. Through this program, any video that was viewed a minimum of 20,000 times, achieved a VideoRank rating of 3.00 or higher, and did not violate any copyrights or other Metacafe community standards was awarded $5 for every 1,000 U.S. views. Pay only for U.S. views.
The program had several success stories, some of which have been featured on national TV, such as The Can Tossing Video, the Beer Launching Fridge
on David Letterman
, and the Ron Paul Girl series by Liv Films, that has been featured on Fox News and CNN
.
Metacafe has also teamed up with notable TV producers like Steven Bochco
(Hill Street Blues
, L.A. Law
) with a series called Cafe Confidential, a 44 webisode
series consisting of teens and twenty-somethings sharing semi-autobiographical stories. The short-form videos, shot close-up, were taken from interviews of more than 100 people talking about memorable moments.
By the end of 2008, Producer Rewards was considerably curtailed before being shut down completely due to a lack of demonstrable profitability. Once the Producer Rewards program closed, users like Kipkay switched their focus to YouTube
.
The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Tel Aviv. Metacafe is privately held and its investors include Accel Partners
Accel Partners
Accel Partners is a global venture and growth equity firm funding companies from inception through the growth stage.The firm is based in Palo Alto, California with major offices in Bangalore, Beijing, London, and Shanghai....
, Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital is a venture capital firm responsible for the early stage funding of some very successful startups. In 1997, the firm invested $6.7 million in eBay, which became worth more than $5 billion by the spring of 1999. Other high-profile investments include Ariba, Juniper Networks, Red...
, DAG Ventures
DAG Ventures
DAG Ventures is an American venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California. It is known as a "coattail" fund for co-investing in later-stage private financing rounds alongside more prominent top-tier venture funds such as Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Accel Venture...
and Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners is a venture capital firm that focuses on investments in seed, early, and growth stage companies in the communications, consumer, digital media, healthcare, and information technology sectors. The firm's partners include: Peter Bell, Sean Dalton, Bob Davis, Richard de...
.
In its early years, Metacafe was similar to other video viewing websites such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
or Dailymotion
Dailymotion
Dailymotion is a video sharing service website, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement, Paris, France. According to Comscore, Dailymotion is the second largest video site in the world after YouTube....
, but has since transformed itself into a short-form video entertainment site with several differences. The site now showcases curated, exclusive and original premium entertainment-related video content.
The company's partners include marquee content providers such as major movie studios, video game publishers, broadcast and cable TV networks, music labels and sports leagues.
The site is advertising supported, working closely with brands in the entertainment, consumer electronics, telecommunications, consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, and automotive sectors.
Company statistics
Metacafe attracts more than 13 million unique monthly U.S. viewers and streams more than 53 million videos in the U.S. each month, according to comScore Video Metrix (March 2011). The site's global audience is more than 40 million unique monthly viewers.As of September 2011 its Alexa
Alexa Internet
Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based subsidiary company of Amazon.com that is known for its toolbar and Web site. Once installed, the toolbar collects data on browsing behavior which is transmitted to the Web site where it is stored and analyzed and is the basis for the company's Web traffic...
global rank was 336th.
History
Metacafe Inc. was founded in July 2002 in Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
by Israeli entrepreneurs Eyal Hertzog
Eyal Hertzog
Eyal Hertzog is the co-founder and current CCO of the popular video sharing website Metacafe.Hertzog grew up in Ra'anana, Israel and currently lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. He is also a musician...
(Chief technical officer
Chief technical officer
A chief technology officer is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupant is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization....
) and Arik Czerniak (CEO) and raised $3 million from Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital is a venture capital firm responsible for the early stage funding of some very successful startups. In 1997, the firm invested $6.7 million in eBay, which became worth more than $5 billion by the spring of 1999. Other high-profile investments include Ariba, Juniper Networks, Red...
. In June 2006, the company closed a Series B financing
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
round of $12 million. Investors included Accel Partners
Accel Partners
Accel Partners is a global venture and growth equity firm funding companies from inception through the growth stage.The firm is based in Palo Alto, California with major offices in Bangalore, Beijing, London, and Shanghai....
and Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital is a venture capital firm responsible for the early stage funding of some very successful startups. In 1997, the firm invested $6.7 million in eBay, which became worth more than $5 billion by the spring of 1999. Other high-profile investments include Ariba, Juniper Networks, Red...
. That September, the company moved its headquarters to Palo Alto, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and in October, Metacafe was ranked the third largest video site in the world according to comScore
ComScore
comScore is a Internet marketing research company providing marketing data and services to many of the Internet's largest businesses. comScore tracks all internet data on its surveyed computers in order to study online behavior....
. The company is currently headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
On February 5, 2007, Erick Hachenburg, previously of Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
and Pogo
Pogo.com
Pogo.com is a gaming website that offers a variety of free casual games, from card and board games to puzzle, sports, and word games. It is owned by Electronic Arts....
, took over as CEO of the company. The company closed a Series C financing
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
round of $30 million in August, 2007 with Accel Partners
Accel Partners
Accel Partners is a global venture and growth equity firm funding companies from inception through the growth stage.The firm is based in Palo Alto, California with major offices in Bangalore, Beijing, London, and Shanghai....
, Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital is a venture capital firm responsible for the early stage funding of some very successful startups. In 1997, the firm invested $6.7 million in eBay, which became worth more than $5 billion by the spring of 1999. Other high-profile investments include Ariba, Juniper Networks, Red...
, DAG Ventures
DAG Ventures
DAG Ventures is an American venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California. It is known as a "coattail" fund for co-investing in later-stage private financing rounds alongside more prominent top-tier venture funds such as Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Accel Venture...
and Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners is a venture capital firm that focuses on investments in seed, early, and growth stage companies in the communications, consumer, digital media, healthcare, and information technology sectors. The firm's partners include: Peter Bell, Sean Dalton, Bob Davis, Richard de...
.
Producer rewards
In October 2006, Metacafe announced its Producer Rewardsprogram in which video producers were paid for their original content. Through this program, any video that was viewed a minimum of 20,000 times, achieved a VideoRank rating of 3.00 or higher, and did not violate any copyrights or other Metacafe community standards was awarded $5 for every 1,000 U.S. views. Pay only for U.S. views.
The program had several success stories, some of which have been featured on national TV, such as The Can Tossing Video, the Beer Launching Fridge
Beer Launching Fridge
The Beer Launching Fridge is a modified mini-fridge that catapults beer to the desired drinker by use of a keyless remote system. It has been featured on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and The Colbert Report....
on David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, and the Ron Paul Girl series by Liv Films, that has been featured on Fox News and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.
Metacafe has also teamed up with notable TV producers like Steven Bochco
Steven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock....
(Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
) with a series called Cafe Confidential, a 44 webisode
Webisode
A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial.A webisode can be an episode...
series consisting of teens and twenty-somethings sharing semi-autobiographical stories. The short-form videos, shot close-up, were taken from interviews of more than 100 people talking about memorable moments.
By the end of 2008, Producer Rewards was considerably curtailed before being shut down completely due to a lack of demonstrable profitability. Once the Producer Rewards program closed, users like Kipkay switched their focus to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Content accessibility
Numerous third-party web sites, applications and browser plug-ins allow users to download Metacafe videos.See also
- Comparison of video servicesComparison of video servicesThe following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable video hosting services. Please see the individual products' articles for further information...
External links
- Metacafe Official website