The year of the video curator?

Journalistic curation – the practice of organizing, vetting and summarizing content to make it more digestible for a target audience – is gaining momentum in the online video space.  

The timing is understandable. More than two-thirds of online Americans have streamed or downloaded digital video content, according to an Ipsos MediaCT study. Comscore reports that 158 million U.S. interviewed users viewed a total of 21.4 billion online videos during July, both all-time highs.

Expect even more in 2010. “Video gathering tools from Flip cams to iPhones are going to ramp up the videos created in all verticals,” said Steve Rosenbaum, CEO of video publishing platform provider Magnify.net. “Consumer viewing of video is going to extend beyond the computer screen to the mobile phone screen and the living room flat screen.”

Magnify.net is hoping to take advantage of this growth with its video curation platform, which facilitates “multi-source video” that involves organizing in-house, aggregated and user-generated video content for a strong mix of targeted information, according to Rosenbaum. Contextual ads are also paired with videos to help monetize the content. 

“The economics are providing a positive ROI for publishers across a wide spectrum of publications," Rosenbaum said.

It’s an opportunity for both B2C and B2B publishers to get into video curation. Leading its constituents by example, trade association American Business Media (ABM) has partnered with Magnify.net  to expand and spruce up its video network, starting with ABM's existing video library.

“ABM will strive to showcase how business-to-business publishers are effectively serving their audience and advertisers through online video," said president and CEO Gordon T. Hughes II in a press release about the partnership. By curating ABM's more than 100 existing videos, Magnify.net will provide a trusted platform for ABM partners, members and advocates to engage with peers on a visual level.