YouTube Branded Channels Get A Boost In Interactivity — wireWAX’s Taggable Videos Given Green Light

In what looks like a pretty big win: wireWAX, the taggable video startup, has secured approval for its interactive videos to be placed directly on YouTube brand channels — meaning that its bigger known clients can now fully embrace the company’s technology. Prior to this, YouTube integration was limited to a ‘wrapper’, with the resulting video files only embeddable on third-party sites, thus somewhat limiting their exposure.

In a blog post, wireWAX says the partnership came about in part due to pressure placed on the Google-owned video site by some of its own big brand users, including Nike and Neiman Marcus. It makes for a nice narrative, of course, but also underlines the way YouTube, through things like its YouTube Partner Program, has been embraced by brands as a destination site in its own right.

Going beyond simple video ‘hotspots’ or annotations, wireWAX’s drag ‘n’ drop tool enables users to add full motion-trackable and clickable links around objects, such as faces, products or just about anything. The applications for such interactivity are almost infinite, but include monetizable uses such as ‘shoppable videos’, as created by the likes of fashion retailer Oki-ni. On that note, wireWAX operates a freemium model, charging for additional premium features, such as customisations, on a ‘pay for what you use’ basis.

Despite the helpfulness of YouTube staff, getting fully baked into the platform was a “long and arduous process”, according wireWAX, involving technical compliance, massaging of code and changes to the user experience. I dare say it was worth it in the end, though.

In July last year, we reported that wireWAX had secured funding from Passion Capital, the early-stage investment fund managed by leading European angel investors, Stefan Glaenzer, Eileen Burbidge and Robert Dighero. No figure was released but our sources placed it in the $500,000 realm.