Anvato Launches First-Ever Video Identification and Search Service That Views Videos as the Human Eye Does

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, Jul 29 (MARKET WIRE) -- Anvato Inc. (www.anvato.com), a pioneer in video content protection and contextual advertising, today launched Anvato ContentID(TM), the first verification service that uses computer vision algorithms to allow video content owners to monitor video distribution sites and identify copyright infringements. Content owners can then decide whether to send take-down notices or receive a share of the advertising revenue.

Anvato's Content ID offers unmatched accuracy through its Perceptual Signature(TM) technology that emulates human vision by identifying scenes, objects and movements inside the video. Unlike watermarking or DRM (digital rights management) techniques, it does not require embedding any fingerprint inside the videos.

Anvato used this technology to search infringements of 20 prime-time programs that aired on one national broadcast network during the past six months, and on its first week of launch, already detected more than two thousand videos that were viewed approximately six million times on online video distribution sites such as YouTube, Veoh and DailyMotion. As more content publishers and shows are added, Anvato expects this number to increase dramatically.

Since Anvato ContentID simulates human vision using a sophisticated set of computer vision algorithms, it is inherently robust against piracy attacks such as transcoding (video format conversion), resolution loss, geometric distortion, video editing and mash-ups. It works even if the audio track is different.

Anvato's objective is not to block consumer access to content. Anvato ContentID is a vehicle to facilitate sustainable business models for content owners and distributors; it allows them to decide how to handle infringements, and even verifies that infringement issues are resolved. "Sending take-down notices is one of the actions publishers can take, but it is definitely not the only one," said Alper Turgut, CEO of Anvato. "Quite a few content owners want to claim ownership and share the advertising revenue through standard revenue-sharing practices with distributors. Their goal is to monetize, not block consumer access to content. Using Anvato, both publishers and distributors can convert a legal liability into profits."

Anvato's technology goes beyond identification of content. Since Anvato Perceptual Signature(TM) technology contains unique information about the content of the video, it is also used to place contextually relevant advertisements. Anvato is also launching a set of tools for advertisers and publishers to create unobtrusive advertisements.

About Anvato
Anvato (http://www.anvato.com) is the first company that effectively applies cutting-edge computer machine vision to content identification, search and contextual advertising. Anvato enables content publishers to protect and monetize their content via advertising while enabling advertisers deliver more targeted messages and truly engage the users by leveraging video context. Anvato's patent pending technology, called Perceptual Signature(TM), uses machine vision to extract knowledge about objects, scenes and visual cues from videos. Anvato is headquartered in Mountain View, CA.