Veon's technology does more than simply recognize links and enable users to click to other video. When a user initially logs on to the Intertainer channel, Intertainer asks for demographic and preference information, stores the data in a database, and communicates the information, along with details like the time of day and type of program the viewer is watching, to the Veon server. Ads can then be targeted. For example, a man might watch a Volvo hypermercial and see a version that describes the car's mechanical features. His wife, logged on later, might see the same commercial, but with the safety features and child locks highlighted.
Advertising is only the first step.
The Veon management team hopes that hypermercials will accustom people to clicking on video. The next step is interactive entertainment. When Adam Stock, VP of marketing, visited Turner Broadcasting, he watched a version of his favorite movie, Philadelphia Story. Veon-authored hot spots linked fans to relevant factoids. With broadband, Hollywood will have the chance to utilize all the interactive capabilities of the Web, but will get to use all their beautiful video.