Page 30 - index
P. 30
COMPANIES & CAMPAIGNS
What's next for
Meerkat’s mobile
video live
streaming app?
For quite some time now mobile video is fast-paced and This app is heavily integrated with Twitter and there-
not a niche phenomenon anymore. In fact, Cisco pre- fore, it definitely was a big shock for the Meerkat’s
dicts that by 2019 the share of video traffic will increase founders to hear that Twitter surprisingly confirmed on
to 73% in the total mobile data traffic. March 13, 2015, that they bought Periscope, a compet-
ing live-streaming app. What Periscope offers in addi-
Services such as YouTube, Vine or the various stream- tion is a way to view previously recorded live streams
ing providers such as Netflix, Watchever, or even Ama- as well, which could pose a problem for Meerkat’s fu-
zon, are established appropriately and provide better ture growth, not to mention that Twitter locked Meerkat
and better service to mobile users. Interestingly, the two out of a convenience function for its API, referring to
major platforms, YouTube and Facebook, are now show- internal rules.
ing significant shifts, revealing that already end of last
year, more videos were uploaded and shared on Face- Meerkat is based on the developer platform ‘fabric’ that
book than on YouTube. allowed them to transmit the social connections of the
Twitter users to their service. This was very convenient
In any case, especially solutions that allow users not on- for users, as they didn’t have to generate and maintain
ly to record, but to accumulate, process and ultimately their contacts in Meerkat again. In addition, Meerkat
distribute videos, are currently gaining momentum. could use references to video streams from Twitter
Snapchat observes, for instance, uploads of 700 million contacts and forward them to others. But since these
photos and videos on a daily basis by now, and with the functions are no longer available for Meerkat, it will be
app users of YouNow are busily filming their children at more difficult for the user to stay informed about live
home and streaming the videos on the platform to share streams. The Meerkat co-founder, Ben Rubin, com-
them with friends. plained about the decision of Twitter, but called the inci-
dent eventually just a "small bump" in the development
of Meerkat.
However, most attention was given to Meerkat in the
past few days, an app that provides mobile video live
streaming on the go. With Meerkat it is possible to record However, the fierce fight for the market just shows that
videos and stream them directly to Twitter via all players involved expect the market to make it big.
smartphone (currently only iOS but Android is soon to Still, as we see in the case of Meerkat, things change
follow). What impressed is the fact that, the app was able fast and adapting swiftly usually means make-or-breaks
to win 120,000 users within just two weeks. in the extremely competitive digital industry. Still, the
sensation built around the new app proves by all
Marketers, of course, embraced the new opportunity to means that there is space for yet another social net-
connect to consumers on a faster and more connected working app to join the massive number of apps al-
level in real-time without delay. ready out there. ◊
By Daniela La Marca
30 Asian eMarketing March 2015 - Video Advertising
What's next for
Meerkat’s mobile
video live
streaming app?
For quite some time now mobile video is fast-paced and This app is heavily integrated with Twitter and there-
not a niche phenomenon anymore. In fact, Cisco pre- fore, it definitely was a big shock for the Meerkat’s
dicts that by 2019 the share of video traffic will increase founders to hear that Twitter surprisingly confirmed on
to 73% in the total mobile data traffic. March 13, 2015, that they bought Periscope, a compet-
ing live-streaming app. What Periscope offers in addi-
Services such as YouTube, Vine or the various stream- tion is a way to view previously recorded live streams
ing providers such as Netflix, Watchever, or even Ama- as well, which could pose a problem for Meerkat’s fu-
zon, are established appropriately and provide better ture growth, not to mention that Twitter locked Meerkat
and better service to mobile users. Interestingly, the two out of a convenience function for its API, referring to
major platforms, YouTube and Facebook, are now show- internal rules.
ing significant shifts, revealing that already end of last
year, more videos were uploaded and shared on Face- Meerkat is based on the developer platform ‘fabric’ that
book than on YouTube. allowed them to transmit the social connections of the
Twitter users to their service. This was very convenient
In any case, especially solutions that allow users not on- for users, as they didn’t have to generate and maintain
ly to record, but to accumulate, process and ultimately their contacts in Meerkat again. In addition, Meerkat
distribute videos, are currently gaining momentum. could use references to video streams from Twitter
Snapchat observes, for instance, uploads of 700 million contacts and forward them to others. But since these
photos and videos on a daily basis by now, and with the functions are no longer available for Meerkat, it will be
app users of YouNow are busily filming their children at more difficult for the user to stay informed about live
home and streaming the videos on the platform to share streams. The Meerkat co-founder, Ben Rubin, com-
them with friends. plained about the decision of Twitter, but called the inci-
dent eventually just a "small bump" in the development
of Meerkat.
However, most attention was given to Meerkat in the
past few days, an app that provides mobile video live
streaming on the go. With Meerkat it is possible to record However, the fierce fight for the market just shows that
videos and stream them directly to Twitter via all players involved expect the market to make it big.
smartphone (currently only iOS but Android is soon to Still, as we see in the case of Meerkat, things change
follow). What impressed is the fact that, the app was able fast and adapting swiftly usually means make-or-breaks
to win 120,000 users within just two weeks. in the extremely competitive digital industry. Still, the
sensation built around the new app proves by all
Marketers, of course, embraced the new opportunity to means that there is space for yet another social net-
connect to consumers on a faster and more connected working app to join the massive number of apps al-
level in real-time without delay. ready out there. ◊
By Daniela La Marca
30 Asian eMarketing March 2015 - Video Advertising
