Revver, an online site that attaches advertising to UGC and splits revenues 50/50 with content owners, features the web series Doogtoons Asks a Ninja. © 2007 Doug Bresler. All rights reserved.

Revver, an online site that attaches advertising to UGC and splits revenues 50/50 with content owners, features the web series, Doogtoons Asks a Ninja. © 2007 Doug Bresler. All rights reserved.

While the idea of accessing animation and other user-generated content via mobile phone may seem strange to some North American consumers, there are regions -- Africa, Eastern Europe and India, for example -- where consumers are more likely to have access to an Internet-connected mobile phone than a computer. Ladwig reports that only five percent of its customers use the Peperonity.com website, with the remainder participating only through their phones. Unlike in the U.S., where consumers spend hours on MySpace or YouTube, many international consumers prefer or need to be mobile-centric. "They're skipping one step in the evolution," Ladwig says. "It's a similar service, but the medium is completely different."

Mobile phones are becoming a big enough global distribution channel that they can't be ignored. "All animators should be considering their own mobile website presence," Bovingdon counsels.

Generating Exposure
While much of the content posted on UGC platforms gets only a small number of hits, clips that go viral can generate views numbering in the millions. "There's really no telling what makes something hit. If we had the secret we'd be bottling and selling it," says Starr. But the opportunity exists for anything to go viral. "An open platform gives people a pretty fair shake to be seen and discovered."

"A good number [of clips] get hundreds of thousands of plays," O'Neill reports. "[The Web] gives you the ability to create a brand and a group of fans. And they're not passive audiences. It's such a democratic medium. You almost never know what's going to go viral."

Karnes agrees. "A lot of people think, if I just upload content, voilà, the world will see me," he says. Timing, topical content and the amount of promotion can play into a clip's popularity, but those factors alone don't necessarily mean a clip will resonate with users. "There isn't a blueprint," Karnes stresses.

Execs encourage animators to promote the work they post, and many UGC services offer tools to help them do so. For example, Bango allows animators to create a link from their website to their mobile site. Revver encourages wide syndication by giving third-party websites a 20% cut of any ad revenues associated with Revver content played on their site.

Yahoo! has moved into the UGC market over the past few years, adding a podcasting service and a blog search, as well as user-generated content within Yahoo! Video, where it added a mechanism for uploading UGC. © Yahoo!

O'Neill of AtomFilms encourages creators to post their animation on their blogs, send links to third-party blogs, create MySpace pages, and send out e-mails when new shorts are posted. She points out that UGC is a medium the filmmaker has control over, unlike TV or movies, and that it doesn't cost millions of dollars to promote a clip. "In the last year filmmakers have become much more savvy about promoting their own work," she adds.

Most services have editorial boards that highlight content they feel is deserving. Featured clips typically include those voted most popular by users as well as lesser-known shorts that the editors like. "We highlight creators who haven't gotten the attention they deserve," says Starr. "We want to give the content as much chance to be discovered as possible."

"With the volumes of content we've seen come in, good stuff can get lost," adds Marks of Ziddio, which also spotlights undiscovered but worthy clips.

Peperonity rates all content from one to 10, with 10 being the best, and features those with the top totals (along with a viewer-selected site of the week). Both the editorial board and the site's users contribute to the rankings, which can change as clips improve or attract more views. Ladwig says the company has put a lot of time and effort into moderating the site. "We don't want it perceived as 'user-generated crap,' but as good user-generated content," he says.

Monetization and Incubation
While exposure is the main draw for animators, some UGC sites offer the chance to generate revenues as well, although these are typically small at this point. "There's not enough revenue-sharing yet for anyone to be able to make a business model out of," says Moon, who believes a site's ability to track where and how often content is viewed, and by whom, currently is more important than how much it pays.

Saarelainen points out that sharing revenues is difficult for a global mobile content company, due to varying regulations in each region. "Instead of offering money to users [who post content], we offer fame," he says.

Still, some services do offer revenue-sharing or some other payment structure. Starr reports that a content creator whose clip goes viral can make upward of $1,000 a week on Revver. "It can be a way to make a living, and a good living," he says, adding that other sites are starting to emulate Revver's revenue-sharing structure. "A whole lot of others have looked at this model in the last six months, and we're very proud of that." Meanwhile, mobile services, such as Bango and Peperoni, enable users to charge for downloads if they want to.