As Variety is reporting, NBC is gearing up to launch it’s first (well, second) “major assault” against YouTube, Didja.com (currently a parked page).
The site will “celebrate advertising as entertainment” and feature “a free online archive of current and classic television commercials, movie trailers and other brand-related content”. The name, Didja, is short for “did you see that”, the apparent reaction they’re hoping to get from viewers. The site will be cross promoted on NBC’s television channel and will eventually on all divisions of NBC Universal. It’s set to launch the beginning of next year, sometime after the still-unnamed joint venture with News Corp., dubbed “Clown Co.” by Google execs.
The site is all about advertising and NBC getting paid for it. NBC hopes advertisers will pay for prominent placement on the site or to create their own branded pages (e.g. an all-McDonald’s channel). The customizable branded pages will allow advertisers to upload commercials to the site, include product offers, store locators, and other tools.
For viewers, the site will feature an extensive social networking component as well as a mash-up tools to remix their own “advertainment”.
This territory has been heavily treaded before. TBS has their own Veryfunnyads website, featuring *gasp* “Very funny advertisements”. Clipland is a smaller site that’s been doing the same thing. Not least of all is YouTube itself, which attracts the lions share of ads and trailers people actually want to watch.