Yahoo Japan, the country’s biggest website, is partnering up with US-based startup Ooyala to launch a video sharing platform. This won’t be, however, Yahoo Japan’s answer to YouTube (there is no such thing): the site will be rather aimed at businesses.
The new platform will make it possible for companies to upload and distribute video on their PC and mobile websites. Corporate customers will be able to analyze the popularity of the video through various criteria, for example number of clicks or location of the viewers.
What Yahoo Japan is after here is revenue generated through video ads and the fees it can charge customers for distributing video on the platform.
In Japan, Ooyala is a late-comer and competing with Brightcove, another US-based venture. Japanese VC firm Itochu Technology Ventures invested US$2 million in Ooyala last year.
According to reports in Japanese media, Yahoo Japan plans to launch the site in May.
