VideoEgg, which has gotten more than a few press mentions today regarding the similarity of its overlaid video ad format to the one YouTube just launched, isn’t pulling any punches.
The San Francisco-based startup has redesigned its homepage to state “Welcome, YouTube. Seriously.” And then, for clarification: “We invented the video overlay ad about a year ago. We are delighted that the market is finally catcing on to a vital new approach to video advertising.”
Invented the overlay? I’m not quite sure that’s true. YouTube’s ads do look similar to VideoEgg’s, but then so do ScanScout’s and a number of other players. And it’s not like we can’t all imagine what would happen if CNN or the Home Shopping Network were clickable.
VideoEgg, which provides ad- and video-hosting services to a network of sites such as Bebo and Hi5, isn’t a consumer-facing company, so it’s not like many people are going to happen upon this declaration of war. But still, it’s pretty feisty.
Update: More detail comes from Epicenter, which links to the Apple-versus-IBM ad that inspired the taunt, and VideoEgg’s patent portfolio.

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