The VideoEgg manifesto

WPP Group has just invested an undisclosed amount in San Francisco-based VideoEgg, a video ad network for user-generated media.

This is the most recent of a number of investments WPP has made in the emerging media community over the course of the last year, according to Adweek. Other companies now partially held by WPP include Spot Runner, Wild Tangent, JumpTap and Visible Technologies, a consumer-generated content tracker.

CEO Mark Read of WPP Digital shed some light on the firm's interest in social networking and consumer-generated media. "Our clients want to understand how to use online communities to build brands and communicate with consumers, particularly younger consumers, who are spending time in these communities," he explained.

VideoEgg is an online video ad-serving site with one major difference from other models: instead of pre-roll ads, it issues invitations at the end of videos that bring users to the advertiser's webpage if clicked. Its network contains over 60 sites, including Bebo.