The changes in video content are good, not bad, for advertisers and marketers eager to reach these audiences as it also frees them from the mini-chunks of time (30- or 60-second commercials) they are allocated within these programs.

The gaining popularity of paid placement and branded entertainment vehicles indicates that advertisers do not want to be pigeonholed and segregated into these defined messaging formats any more.

Instead, the change to natural-length programming means that sponsors and advertisers can develop messaging that actually meets their marketing needs. If a complex story and benefit equation needs to be spelled out, is it really better to try to squeeze all of that into a hastily read 30-second voiceover, or does it finally make sense to develop marketing content of a length based on the needs of the message?

This is where the future or advertising-supported content lies, because it succeeds on two essential levels. First, it will be better received, recalled, and responded to because of its authenticity. Second, it will receive greater and greater budget allocations by marketers because it is a product that suits their requirements, not the requirements of the distributor.

The new Lingua Franca: By the end of 2006 it is likely that terms like "short form" and "long form" will have begun to have lost their meaning. When a consumer's daily experience is made up of four-minute video podcasts like "Cool Hunting" and "The Hawaii Surf Report," can you really say that a 60-second commercial is short, or that the Bowflex Iridium 3000 infomercial is long?

Video moves off the couch: The other factor to remember is that as the environment of consumption changes so changes the experience, which brings us back full circle to 1980 and the Sony Walkman. Headphones started popping up everywhere in the early 1980s only to subside as most fads do, as the isolation provided by the devices gave way to more social and shared entertainment experiences.

Another phenomenon that emerged with the Walkman was user-generated content, eerily like an iPod playlist knows as the "mixed tape." Guys and gals spent hours and days selecting, organizing, programming and ordering their music to suit their taste. To this day amateur deejays and artists still refer to their new releases as "mixed tapes" despite the fact that most of them have never used an audio cassette in their lives and release their product directly via the internet.

But will consumers embrace ads in new video? Yes. A January research study from the Points North Group showed that consumers would prefer watching ads in downloadable video to paying $1.99 per show by more than a three to one ratio. This represents an exciting new horizon for marketers