The Hollywood-based Revver began as a "backbone platform" for creators and syndicates, says Rob Maigret, the company's chief technology officer. "Revver doesn't want to compete with creators by driving eyeballs to Revver.com, says Maigret, "but we wanted the experience at Revver.com to be fulfilling."

Revver's 1.1 site offers visitors more robust ways to share videos and search for them via the site. New functionality also gives syndicators the ability to customize what Revver content appears on their sites and how it's displayed. Affiliates that stream Revver videos get 20% of the advertising revenue. Maigret says he will launch "Active Revver" in January to allow individuals to build their own Revver.com using the same technology used at Revver.com. Later in the first quarter of 2007, Revver will offer advanced analytics to allow creators to track the performance of their videos and view the details behind their earnings.

"The star of Revver isn't Revver.com," he says. "It's the creators, and many have their own sites." Revver splits advertising revenue with creators 50/50. The company launched in 2005, and attracted national attention this summer when EepyBird earned more than $40,000 through its popularized DietCoke Mentos Experiment.

Revver is now featuring humorous promotions by Invisible Engine (http://invisibleengine.com/). The series features the comedian filmmakers personifying Revver, and Revver is encouraging people to download them from Revver and upload them on other sites. (See Revver blog: http://blog.revver.com/?p=388).

This fall, Revver increased its base of creators including such "ce-web-rities" as LonelyGirl15, ZeFrank and Ask a Ninja. Revver is one of few sites that manually reviews each submitted video to safeguard against copyright infringement. When Weird Al began uploading his video collection in September as "WayMoby," he had to telephone the company to convince them he wasn't someone pirating his collection.


Responding to Users

I participated in an e-mail thread with a series of Revver users who were making money but frustrated and wanted improvements. Revver learned about the e-mails in October and scheduled a meeting with us to gain input into the redesigns. The participants asked for more stable technology, better analytics, improvements on Revver.com, and more exposure. Last week the company provided us a "sneak preview" into Revver 1.1, which addresses many of these needs.

Revver videos are typically viewed far less than those on such sites as YouTube, AOL, Yahoo or Google. So Revver is now focused on broadening the exposure of the videos in its network. "We live in Hollywood and know the players," says Maigret. "That gives us exposure to them, and we give creators exposure." Revver is now prioritizing the expansion of its syndication network -- through traditional and alternative channels. These include mobile viewing via Verizon Vcast, and partnerships that put some Revver videos on television in the United Kingdom.

Revver also plans to increase its distribution partnerships, and is working aggressively to ensure its videos can be found on search engines with ease. Revver solicits user feedback via a forum as well as a blog managed by Revver's Director of Community Micki Krimmel. "Our community is why we're here," says Krimmel. "We're just a technology, but the users really drive our success. So it's important for us to have open communication and to invite our members into the process."

Open Source

Maigret has assembled technology leaders via a network of "open source" proponents. "These people are the ones that wouldn't take day jobs," he says "They're untamable. And they're excited to build a technology that will be open and widely used." The vast majority of Revver's software is open source, and the company wants developers to build on it. Despite mounting competition in the online video market, Revver maintains a "shared ideal" about individuals making money from their creations. "We have the feel of an independent record label," he says. "We're the good guys, and we're doing our best to be honest and still balance the needs of all sorts of sub-systems."