Top three creators take home over $20,000 each based on total views of their short videos on the Metacafe site

Palo Alto, CA – January 10, 2007 – Metacafe, the world’s largest independent video site, today announced that the Producer Rewards™ program continues to deliver unprecedented earnings and visibility for content creators around the world. Two months after going live, Producer Rewards videos have been seen more than 27 million times. The top 8 creators have earned more than 10,000 each, and three creators have taken home more than $20,000 apiece.

Applications to the program more than tripled in the second month as video creators around the globe jumped at the chance to profit from their best work. Ryan Hoyme, who has now earned more than $22,000 with his instructional short videos spotlighting simple, effective massage techniques, explains the benefits of the Producer Rewards program for video creators: “I post massage videos to promote my business and my website, and share the health benefits of massage with people. I couldn’t believe that I could earn so much money with my videos, but it happened on Metacafe! I believe that massage is something countless people can benefit from. Clearly, Metacafe is something that people can benefit from too. I know I did.”

Launched on October 30, 2006, the Producer Rewards program pays creators $5 for every 1,000 views of their video clips on Metacafe.com in exchange for the non-exclusive rights to distribute their work on any platform. Clips on Metacafe begin earning money once they exceed 20,000 views and a 3.00 or higher on a 1 – 5 rating scale.

“We’re only beginning to see the many possibilities for people to make money with Producer Rewards. The door is open in 2007 for talented people to get paid for their work,” said Arik Czerniak, CEO of Metacafe. “We offer short video makers what they’re looking for — a straightforward payment program and a fast path to a global audience. They focus on making great videos, and we deliver the rest.”

Metacafe is the only site that mines the collective wisdom of its viewers to filter and surface the most entertaining videos. Any Producer Rewards video can skyrocket to the Metacafe front page based solely on content quality as determined by community reviewers and Metacafe’s proprietary VideoRank™ technology. More than 16 million viewers visit Metacafe every month (comScore, November 2006) and good videos can surpass 20,000 views in just a few hours.

Producer Rewards: How it Works
Any short video can be submitted to Producer Rewards as long as it is owned by the creator and suitable for all audiences. Once a video is accepted into the Producer Rewards program, the video is immediately exposed to Metacafe’s worldwide community of more than 16 million monthly viewers. Then, it’s up to the Metacafe audience to determine the success of the video.

Metacafe’s VideoRank uses proprietary algorithms to factor in all aspects of viewer interactions with video content. Rating and site placement is determined automatically by VideoRank with no editorial involvement, and constantly updated based on changes in viewer behavior.

About Metacafe
Metacafe is the world’s largest independent video site based on global traffic, total page views and time spent on site. Metacafe is the only site that mines the collective wisdom of its audience to filter and surface the most entertaining videos, making it the best place to both watch and distribute high quality and entertaining video content. For more information, please visit www.metacafe.com.
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