Ground-Breaking Study Reveals Online Retail Sites Are More Impactful With Video

36% Of Consumers Surveyed Validate That Video Reviews Enhance Other Forms Of Product Information

ExpoTV’s Videopinions Reviews, A New, More Useful and Trusted Form of User-Generated Content, Poised to Reinvent and Complement Traditional Research Tools

NEW YORK CITY - More than one in three Internet users would find their number one method of product research more impactful if accompanied by video-based product opinions, according to a new study that has the potential to significantly impact the $130 billion e-commerce marketplace.

In ground-breaking research commissioned by ExpoTV, Socratic Technologies, a San Francisco-based research firm, found that when compared with their number one preferred method of researching products and services, 36% found VideopinionsSM reviews more influential.

"We knew from day one that video was the future of word-of-mouth," said Daphne Kwon, CEO of ExpoTV. "Consumer-generated video product reviews combine the best of all worlds by marrying the incredible power of the visual medium to convey vast amounts of information quickly with the authenticity of a word-of-mouth experience. Soon, no product research site will be complete without Videopinions Reviews."

By now it is an accepted industry and research fact that the majority of consumers value user-generated reviews and prefer sites that feature them. But the kind of honesty and true word of mouth that video product reviews provide delivers an increasingly compelling value proposition. The Socratic study shows that seven out of ten surveyed said they found Videopinions reviews an easy source of information to utilize.

"The point of the Socratic research findings isn't that Videopinions reviews will replace trusted tools currently available to consumers." said Bill Hildebolt, ExpoTV President. "Rather, it confirms both the very real appetite consumers have for product information and the incredible impact that a rich media interaction with other consumers can have on the research experience. We witness this daily through ExpoTV's content syndication with Smarter.com and Buy.com."

Research Methodology
The research was conducted by Socratic Technologies. 300 respondents with broadband connections were asked to select their preferred product research technique. Respondents were then shown a Videopinions product review. More than 1/3 of respondents confirmed that Videopinions enhanced their preferred product research tool.

About ExpoTV



Home to a fast-growing community of shopping influentials, ExpoTV's members have contributed more than 60,000 engaging and informative video-based consumer product reviews. These VideopinionsSM reviews demonstrate product benefits from a real-world consumer perspective in an easy-to-understand video format. Covering a broad range of categories including kitchen products, consumer electronics, entertainment and travel, ExpoTV's video review catalog is the largest in the world. Videopinions are distributed online and TV through ExpoTV's popular broadband Web site; via partnerships with the world's largest video portals including Yahoo! Video, AOL Video, Google Video, and YouTube; to leading e-commerce destinations like Smarter.com and Buy.com; and to 25 million digital cable homes, including subscribers to Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter. To experience ExpoTV, visit www.ExpoTV.com.

About Socratic Technologies
Socratic Technologies, Inc. is a leader in the science of computer-based and interactive research methods since 1994. Headquartered in San Francisco, it is a research-based consultancy that builds proprietary, interactive tools that accelerate and improve research methods for the study of global markets. Socratic Technologies specializes in product research for the business-to-business and consumer products sectors.

ExpoTV Relaunch their Site

The super-charged ExpoTV is here!

With the help of our passionate members, we burned the midnight oil to bring you an experience that truly celebrates the community. Now with great new Videopinions reviews served up fresh daily! We hope the new ExpoTV helps make everyone Shop Smarter - and for all you creators, make some money while you're at it!

The site definitely has a new look and feel. Plus, we've added the following features to make the Expo experience useful and loads of fun:

• Tons of additional product information and buying resources
• More ways to communicate with members
• Member badges to celebrate your success
  
• The ability to embed videos on personal web pages
• And a new, easier video upload process

Member Profiles -- One of the Coolest New Features!
Now you can select an image that matches your shopping style. It's all in the brand new Member Profile page. Be sure to update your's so everyone will know whether you're a "speedster" or a "gear head".

ExpoTV started it now it's happening on eBay

Things are really starting to move at eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY). You probably figured as much, considering that the company's namesake site helped move $14.3 billion in merchandise this past quarter. However, I'm talking about a different kind of motion -- motion pictures.

An entry in eBay's corporate blog last week indicated that the site is now encouraging sellers to link to videos that showcase their wares. Auctioneers can only go through five of the biggest video-sharing sites -- Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Google's YouTube, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Soapbox, or AOL -- but it's an interesting strategy.

Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) isn't on the list. The search-engine giant has been a strategic partner with eBay for nearly a year now. Even if many of the clips available through Yahoo! are actually hosted on smaller third-party sites, it's a slap in the face to ignore a business partner that also runs one of the more popular video-sharing sites.

Still, it could be a revolutionary step for the site. The ability to see items in action -- assuming that the seller has the time to make a clip in the first place -- is far better than text descriptions and the occasional snapshot or two.

However, like any true revolution, this isn't a battle that can be won overnight.

Hitting the pause button
eBay thought this through. It contacted a few eBay members who were handy with camcorders, webcams, and video-editing software packages to showcase six different items on the site. OK, so maybe eBay fibbed as to how dedicated these aspiring filmmakers are to the eBay cause -- half of the listings are from sellers who have zero feedback.

However, you can follow the blog entry to check out the six listings. Some of them are pretty amusing, like the guy trying to sell his acoustic guitar in a highly unorthodox way. He strums along as he brushes his teeth on the guitar neck, makes out with the tuning keys, and even plays a few chords while he's on the toilet. Other ads feature stop-motion prowess in pitching a bike, Lego figures, and a 1996 Saturn.

The clips are slick, as expected. The members all chose to host their videos on YouTube, a good move since it may bring in auction-listing traffic through folks who stumble on the videos first.

But there's a rub, my friend. The six auctions have been running for nearly a week, set to end between today and Thursday. Despite eBay's promotion and the viral allure of some of the clips, the bidding battles just aren't taking place. Let's check into the six auctions, as of last night.

• The humiliated Martin acoustic guitar has just the opening $800 bid.
• The 1996 Saturn, star of its slick stop-action clip, hasn't received a single offer despite its reasonable $999 opening bid.
• A copy-room stapler with a compelling back story has been bid up to only $11.
• The vintage Lego figures have had enough activity to take the bidding up to $45, but the listing's reserve price has not been reached.
• A loaded Apple G4 is fetching just $84.50.
• A Surly Steamroller track bike has failed to nab its $300 start price, perhaps because the Brooklyn-housed bicycle must be picked up locally.

Thinking outside the screening room
Encouraging clips to promote eBay auctions may be a new strategy at eBay, but it isn't an original move. Intuitive YouTube users are already using video to direct traffic to their listings.

Val's Art Diary, the woman behind it is an oil painter who works her craft on canvas, documenting the artistic process with a camcorder along the way. She then auctions off the paintings on eBay. The promotional video diary clips are available through Apple's iTunes and her own website, but it was only after she was featured on YouTube that her cottage industry really took off.

The entrepreneurial spirit is starting to creep into the seemingly noncommercial YouTube site. Someone who was featured after demonstrating a self-stirring coffee mug quickly edited the video description to include a commissionable link to where the mug can be purchased.

Most people don't see YouTube that way. The legitimate video resumes aren't getting the kind of page views that the ridiculous, over-the-top ones are garnering. Clips of cars for sale will never draw in users the way fender-benders do. That's just human nature, but I still think that more and more people will begin tapping into the free multimedia promotion that is available through sites like YouTube.

What is getting in the way right now? A big factor may be a lack of education when it comes to shooting and editing videos. The learning curve isn't all that steep. A Windows-powered PC has the free Movie Maker editing application, and Apple users have access to even better editing software packages.

For investors, this trend will open up portfolio opportunities. Stocks like Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI) and Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) that will thrive in a video-friendly future. Logitech is the webcam leader, while Adobe is the star of publishing software, as well as the company behind the Flash platform that the leading video-sharing sites use.

Will eBay buy ExpoTV?

Expo TV introduce the 2006 Holiday Shopping Guide

Expo TV unveil the first-ever Holiday Shopping Guide -- an interactive video series co-created by the VIDEOPINIONS^SM community and Expo TV producers!

The 2006 Holiday Shopping Guide offers a variety of gift related programming including:

• Three magazine-style full-length shows
• Five episodes focused on a specific gift recipient such as "For Her"
• Dozens of individual gift-pick videos
• A good dose of helpful holiday shopping tips

The shows are available on Google Video, AOL Video, YouTube, and will make their television debut on December 1^st on our Video On Demand Network through partnerships with Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, and other cable operators.

Is ExpoTV another billion dollar YouTube?

Expo TV is a new video solution to product research, with thousands of consumer-generated reviews and product demonstrations all available in full-motion video. In addition to the video reviews contributed by our community, we also produce informative ‘how to buy’ videos and have advertising partners who have contributed product demonstration videos.

Shop Whenever. Shop Smarter.