I made some predictions at the end of 2006 in a post titled, The Free Video Meal Will End In 2007. Well did it? Sort of. Let's take a look at each one.

Prediction #1: Some of the players mentioned above will not exist by the end of 2007. They will either go away as a result of consolidation or outright collapse. I’m sure that a couple of existing sites that I don’t mention will also go away as well.

Outcome: Blip.tv, Revver, Guba, MySpace Video, Eyespot, MetaCafe, Brightcove and Google Video. were the ones I mentioned. And they're all still here! So I was wrong. Some have undergone major changes though. Brightcove shuttered their consumer focused offering at Brightcove.tv in favor of focusing on enterprise level video distribution. Google Video has become an aggregator of sorts, combining videos from YouTube, Google Video and AOL Video. You can also now search for videos all over the web using Google Video.

Prediction #2: New players will emerge into the space with new money and new ideas.

Outcome: Looking back this wasn't really too bold a prediction. Of course there will be new players. We've seen niche sited like Funny Or Die come online. And major networks like Fox and NBC moved in with Hulu. So I believe I was right but it was hard to be wrong here.

Prediction #3: Google will make a strategic decision to change the model of YouTube either by charging to upload content or collapsing YouTube into Google Video.

Outcome: Google has focused on the YouTube brand. And it is still free to upload videos. I was wrong. Google has moved to monetize user generated videos though. They are now adding overlay ads to the videos of certain content producers and splitting the revenue.

Prediction #4: Major brands will move away from using the free video services (mainly YouTube frankly) in favor of paid services that allow them to control delivery, statistics and the community surrounding their content.

Outcome: Fox and NBC launched Hulu a couple of months ago. There have been deals to bring NBC content via Netflix as well. We have also heard in recent weeks that Fox will offer movie rentals via Apple's iTunes store. We have shows like The Daily Show delivering episodes via their websites for the fans to view. On this one I was definitely right. The networks want to lock in the value of their content as well as have greater access to audiences. And there's not way that can happen on YouTube.

In reality the big change in 2007 was the inclusion of in-video advertising across many of these networks. Blip.tv and YouTube added overlay ads. Hulu is supported with many large brand sponsors. Individual shows like the Onion News Video and Ask A Ninja were able to generate significant revenue from sponsors.

So while the free video meal did end. It didn't end for the users. It's very rare that people are paying to watch videos streamed from the web. We are dealing with more advertisements though. The brands are the ones that are paying. They're either paying via advertisements or the costs of development and delivery of content from their own properties.

I've got some thoughts on predictions for 2008. I'll stay away from online video though as I've proven that my crystal ball in this area could use a shot of windex.