The Consumer's Voice

Every so often, we see something that speaks directly to what we are doing at Bitmenu.  Our focus has always been to remove barriers and enable easy engagement between buyers and sellers of media.  While we often talk about the benefits to Sellers (no need to manage registrations, credit cards and delivery), the value to Buyers is presented nicely in this article from Gizmodo.

A snip:

"I'm a person who pays for content because I want to support the people who created it, but who's increasingly frustrated by how hard content owners make it to just give them my money sometimes. That may put me in the minority, but I don't think I'm alone."

Digital Theater Downloads Extend Performances

Every so often we see evidence of sustainable business models built around distribution of digital media.  When we look into how purchases are made and media delivered, we think of how Bitmenu is different and could be used for similar purposes.

In this case, a group in the UK sells theater performances:

Digital Theatre works in partnership with the leading theatre companies and arts organisations in the country to bring the best theatre to your desktop or television screen.

As Apple TV and other internet-connected solutions bring video to the television set, people will choose to view purchases this way as well as through well-known "stores".  This review provides a great example of how this niche service is used.  As noted, the site requires registration.  Users have to create a userID and password.  They must also supply personal information, including mailing address, and credit card information.  In other words, VOD sites like this have to build a relationship with the user before they can sell anything.

Bitmenu makes it easy for users to buy without sign up or registration.  Users pay and download their purchase without handing over any of the information mentioned.  They use their Amazon or PayPal account and Bitmenu verifies the transaction prior to releasing the download.

For niche VOD services, Bitmenu enables a unique casual purchase makes buying so easy they are easy to recommend.

How Google Will Supoort DMCA Actions

Yesterday, Google issued a statement that should encourage sellers of digital media.  Anyone who sells copyrighted materials has to deal with unauthorized re-distribution of their goods.  While infringing sites can be prosecuted using the DMCA "take-down request" procedure, up until now those sites were able to freely promote themselves through Google search results.

Here is Google's statement:

"Starting next week, we will begin taking into account a new signal in our rankings: the number of valid copyright removal notices we receive for any given site. Sites with high numbers of removal notices may appear lower in our results.  This ranking change should help users find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily."

This statement has triggered questions about DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and what Sellers can do to generate traffic to their sites as opposed to repeat infringers.  The statement received positive reviews by the MPAA and the RIAA, as noted by popular Search Engine columnist Danny Sullivan.

At Bitmenu, we have designed our systems to benefit media creators.  Now we are seeing Google take the same stance.  From the RIAA quote:

"This should result in improved rankings for the licensed music services that pay artists and deliver fans the music they love."

Of course, Bitmenu is unique in that we enable Sellers to easily reach out to Buyers directly.  The action that Google puts into effect on Monday should help them stand out as well.

Amazon's Video App for iPad Features Amazon Purchase Flow

Today's release of Amazon Instant Video for iPad contains an important variation on most media sales made to iOS devices:  it circumvents the iTunes Store infrastructure.

Much has been made of Apple's 30% "tax" on all items sold through their various iTunes-enabled e-commerce services, including the App Store, iBookstore and iTunes Music Store.  Developers or publishers have had to work with Apple to enable "in app" purchases or otherwise make their media available from Apple.  The "native app" approach was at first assumed to compliment the "native web" approach to buying things on iOS, but the pendulum has recently swung strongly in favor of the app approach.

Now, Amazon is providing a "native web" purchase path that presents a compelling alternative.  As reported by AppleInsider, "To circumvent Apple's requirements for in-app purchases, new content must be bought from Amazon via the iPad's Safari Web browser. Purchases made on Amazon.com through the browser will appear in the Your Video Library section of the iPad application."

While Apple boasts a system with over 400 million active credit cards on file, Amazon has nearly 200 million.  Given there are only 170 million US credit cardholders, both of these services have pretty much covered that part of the market.

So, Amazon has creating a shopping experience that starts and ends on the web, and never touches the Apple Stores.  Users download a free app from the Apple App Store, but their purchases are handled via Amazon's Web Services.  Interestingly, they have worked for years with developers like Bitmenu to refine this technique.

We expect more Sellers to choose to market their media on their own terms.

Google+ Introduction For Marketers

Up until now, selling directly to fans and followers came in four flavors:

1. Set up a web catalog and drive traffic to it.
2. Build and manage an email list with offers.
3. Set up a Facebook page and post offers to your Facebook stream.
4. Insert offers into Twitter posts.

As if these weren't enough to worry about, now Google has released new versions of Google+ for the web, Android, iPad and iPhone.  These are now roughly equivalent in functionality, which means you can easily post or broadcast from anywhere, anytime.

Google+ is a different beast for Sellers.  When you create a Facebook "friend", they "accept" you and it's a two-way connection.  Google is more like Twitter in that you can "follow" anyone and they can "follow" you by "adding" you to their "circles".  So, the goal is to be in as many circles as possible.  Then, when you post something it will appear in the stream of the people who are following you.

Here is a very quick tutorial from the Traffic Generation Cafe.  And Forbes ran an article and video of an artist using Google+ exclusively as their marketing vehicle.

The wild-cards that makes Google+ transformative right now are "hangouts".  Think of it as Skype that works on smartphones and PCs.  You can have interactive video chats with up to 9 people that can also be viewed in real-time through YouTube.  Also, Google+ lets you set up "Pages" for events or brands, and these have their own news feed, hangouts and circles.  Finally, the search function makes it possible to find old posts easily and for your posts to be discovered.

We think it's possible to build businesses around Google+.  Of course, Bitmenu links format nicely within Google+ posts!

Lady Gaga Sells To Little Monsters

Lady Gaga has joined the ranks of celebrities who are setting up their own online communities and selling their own stuff.

Like JK Rowling's Pottermore, Lady Gaga's Little Monsters is all about community with some critically important e-commerce offerings.

Specifically, tickets to her "Born This Way Ball" tour are available through her site (via TicketMaster).  

In addition, users can "join" the event, which subscribes them to a Pinterest-style stream of items contributed by others for that event.

TNW reports the site has gone through its beta phase and is now available to all through a simple sign up (Twitter and Facebook can be used). 

Can we expect her to make available media for sale as well, a la Louis CK?  We would be happy to help!

A Smart Look at App-Enabled Credit Cards

Forbes enlisted billionaire and LinkedIn founder Reid Hastings to produce this look at credit cards as platforms for apps.

Anyone who has bought something through iTunes or Amazon might notice charges on the card they have associated to those accounts for items not purchased directly from these stores.

When you buy something through an app on your iPhone, it is using the credit card you have on file at Apple.  Likewise, when you buy something using your Amazon account, it might well be through an app provided by services like Bitmenu.

App-enabled credit cards provide a secure way to offer more for sale from more places without requiring consumers to register their credit card with each merchant or vendor they wish to buy from.  As alluded to the Forbes article, your iTunes or Amazon account might soon enough enable you to purchase things from within a physical store.

To make this happen, developers must build apps that connect users with the credit cards they already have on file with iTunes, Amazon or other payment processors.  As these payment services work with more developers, the kinds of applications suggested by the article will become available.