Blinkx, the video search firm that recently retooled as a Web TV play, is adding yet another line of business. The company is licensing what it calls its Advanced Media Platform to publishers to manage video search, insert advertising, and target users with relevant video. The first customers for the service, derived from Blinkx's search technology, includes Kiplingers', WallStreet.net, and Conde Nast's Portfolio.com.
Blinkx CEO Suranga Chandratillake sees a growing niche among publishers which are quickly adopting video, but lack the tools to organize and deliver it to consumers. Blinkx already powers video search for IAC's Ask.com and Lycos. But despite the forays into various business-to-business services, Blinkx's model remains, at its core, based on showing video ads to consumers.
Last month it introduced its own very Joost-like Internet TV service (albeit with amazing search features) called BBTV. Suffice to say, Blinkx is looking down every possible avenue for revenue to avoid the fate of Joost, which also has impressive technology but few users. Blinkx raised $50 million in May 2007, a sum Chandratillake says is sufficient to reach profitability next year.
