Millions watch online videos every day. The question is how to make money out of it - YouTube is still working on that.
Last fall, Cactus Commerce of Gatineau signed a deal with Microsoft to develop new strategies to tackle the growing e-commerce market.
Company founder, Jean-Yves Martineau says it was just a few years ago when the dot-com bust came along and people thought e-commerce was dead.
Now he says many of his retail clients now know that e-commerce is a reality. In fact, one of his clients with $10 billion in annual sales, does about one-quarter of that business online.
The U.S. government's latest prediction is that there will be a 17 per cent growth this year in online shopping. Statistics Canada says online spending was up 26 per cent in the past year.
Ottawa-based Overlay TV launched in February. Their idea is to allow you to watch a video online and then click on links that provide information on a product and where to buy it.
Company CEO Rob Lane says their idea puts them right in the midst of all the action. It brings together video, e-commerce and advertising - three pretty hot markets.
"People will watch advertising as long as it is very relevant to what they are watching," said Lane.
