Video search engine Blinkx is trying a new strategy to boost ad revenues: selling its search engine to third-party sites. The deal is pretty straightforward: any site that signs up can have Blinkx's video search engine embedded for free. Blinkx sells ads text ads against the seach results as well as video overlays and splits revenue with the distributor 50-50.
CEO Suranga Chandratillake says Blinkx has two takers: MSN UK and Russian portal Rambler.ru. Blinkx already powers search for Ask.com, Lycos and Real Networks.
Will Blinkx be able to add more sites? Probably, but it won't change the fact that YouTube remains the default search engine for those seeking video. Another problem for Blinkx: there's little upside for video sites to add Blinkx search because the results will likely take consumers away to video on other sites.
But, for non video-centric sites looking to add a function and some incremental ad revenue, a deal with Blinkx could have some appeal. It's probably a better near-term idea than the Joost-like broadband TV service Blinkx launched in April, BBTV. Blinkx raised $50 million in May 2007, a sum Chandratillake has said is sufficient to take the company to profitability in 2009.
See Also: Who's Buying Blinkx? Google? News Corp?
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