There have been a lot of sites in the recent past where user generated video content and the videos have spread virally among the net community.

  • Revver, a pioneer the usage of still frame ad at the end of video pays the content creator based on the clicks - adsense model
  • Metacafe pays creators $100 when their video has been viewed 20,000 times, and $5 for every 1,000 additional views.
  • TurnHere and ExpertVillage.com, offer upfront payments
  • Brightcove, DivX Stage6 and Cruxy, allow a video’s creator to set a price viewers must pay to view it, and exact a small transaction fee.
  • Break.com is more digg like but it pays the content generator if it manages to get to the home page of the site

What makes some videos hit and some flops – no one has a clue …

Just as Hollywood moguls have yet to find an infallible formula for producing a blockbuster, Internet video producers still don’t know why some clips “go viral,” sent by e-mail from person to person and incorporated into blog entries, and others languish, seen only by the auteur’s dorm mates.

Amidst all this, what is the revenue model that works ? Is there one at all ?Or all these sites just vying for to get acquired by google / msft / yahoo?

All the sites mentioned here are in essence nothing but acting as an aggregator of the long tail in videos. But what will be their revenue model ? What is the alternative for adwords and adsense for these type of sites? Food for thought..