Auditude's overlay technology

Moving forward, MTV-owned videos uploaded by users to MySpace.com will likely be infused with ads, part of a deal between the giants.

Palo Alto-based Auditude provided the technological platform, which uses digital fingerprinting to identify professional video content, then serves targeted ads within them, reports MediaPost. Video content under MTV's jurisdiction could include music videos, as well as clips from shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

This marks the first such deal for Auditude, which hopes to take part in similar liaisons in the future, according to CEO Adam Cahan.

Auditude can run ads of any format across copyrighted content. The company has indexed about four years' worth of TV programming and thousands of films. When at least five seconds of a show have been uploaded, Auditude can identify what it is and even when it aired.

In addition to running overlay advertising over the material, it provides links back to the original content source, as well as to related e-commerce (such as licensed merchandise) sites.

Such functionalities give both sites and media firms the option to monetize "unauthorized" viral clips, turning so-called content "pirates" into vehicles for profit. For that reason, Research VP Andrew Frank of Gartner Group dubbed the deal "a significant milestone" for the industry.

"The need for media companies to solve the problem of monetizing consumer-distributed content and the need for portals to find better ways of dealing with copyright issues has never been greater," he stated.

Ad revenue will be split between MySpace, MTV and Auditude. MySpace is reportedly negotiating with other companies about forming similar alliances.