"As for the questions about when these changes take effect, hopefully this helps:

-Trends Exhausted: If you submitted the video before February 11, you are eligible to be accepted. If after, ineligible.
-Too Short: If you submitted the video before February 11, you are eligible to be accepted. If after, ineligible.
-Fewer than 20,000 Views in 6 Months: If you submitted the video before February 11, you are eligible to be accepted. If after, ineligible.
-Unsuitable Content: All videos, past and present.
-No Entertainment Value: All videos, past, present and future.
-Promotional Vehicle: All videos, past, present and future.

I know some of you must feel that we are discouraging producers and simply don't want to pay out money. Nothing could be further from the truth. The point of these changes is to improve Producer Rewards for everyone -- producers, viewers and advertisers. You may not think that advertisers matter, but they help us keep the program alive, so they matter a lot.

We feel that these changes challenge producers to produce their best, without resorting to copycatting. In the long run, these changes will improve the program and Metacafe."

MarkJP, Senior Manager for Content Management, for Metacafe added:

"Mark from Metacafe here, and I’ll address a few of the common questions that are coming up as a result of the changes to the program:

1) Why did we remove videos from the site and not just from Producer Rewards®?

- It would not be fair for us to stop paying for video views but still receive the benefit of those views. If your video was removed and you want it re-published on the site (outside of the Producer Rewards® program), please e-mail customersupport@metacafe.com. Assuming your video meets our general content standards, we will re-publish it immediately – with the views and VideoRank™ as they were prior to removal.

2) How did we decide which videos to remove?

- For the general explanation, check out Assaf’s original post: http://forums.metacafe.com//index.php?showtopic=18735.

If you have a question about your particular video, please direct it to customersupport@metacafe.com. We will not address individual cases in this public forum. We will respond to your inquiry as quickly as possible, but please keep in mind that it may take a little longer than usual since the number of inquiries is much higher as a result of these changes.

Just to put it in perspective, over 90% of the videos previously accepted into the program were not impacted by these changes.

3) Is the goal to stop or dramatically limit the amount of money we pay for videos?

- Absolutely not – we are committed to investing in outstanding original works and have actually increased our Producer Rewards® budget significantly for 2008. That said, it is important that we continually improve the program and the overall entertainment experience for the entire Metacafe community. These changes are meant to encourage creativity, quality and diversity – and come as a result of collecting and analyzing feedback from viewers, producers and advertisers over the course of the past several months.

4) Is Metacafe for sale?

- No! Our business continues to grow at a healthy rate, and the Producer Rewards® program is an important part of that – which is why we are committed to continuing our investment in the program and encourage you to keep submitting videos that meet the eligibility requirements.

5) What’s with the negative amount showing up in my payment log?

- That is a system bug – that reared its ugly head at an exceptionally bad time. We’re working to fix it right now and expect the issue to be resolved within the next 24 hours. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

If you have not yet checked out the complete description of the updated eligibility requirements, I encourage you to do so: http://help.metacafe.com/?page_id=241. This should help maximize the likelihood of success for future videos.

It is our sincere hope that you will remain part of the Metacafe community and continue submitting outstanding original works to the Producer Rewards® program. We know there are a number of video sites out there and completely understand that most producers will participate in or experiment with many of them – that’s why the Producer Rewards® contract continues to be for a non-exclusive license of your content, and we wish you success in all your endeavors. We do believe, however, that Metacafe Producer Rewards® remains one of the best payment programs for individual video creators and welcome your continued participation or return at any time."

Hopefully things will smooth out and metacafe will become a better destination for original creative content. Until then, we'll keep an eye on things and let you know how they pan out!

To follow this story, subscribe to my metacafe channel at: http://metacafe.com/channels/hersheymagic2

On February 11, 2008, Metacafe sent out a mass e-mail to existing producers which split the community. While some producers looked at the changes as a positive move forward, many were upset by them. Almost no one was unaffected by the changes. Producers across the globe woke to find many of their videos that were previously accepted into the producer rewards program were no longer online. In addition to the discovery, they also had an e-mail explaining the changes.

Assaf Pines, from Metacafe posted the following message in the Metacafe forums:

"Over 15 months have passed since the launch of the Producer Rewards® program. We’ve learned a lot in that time, and we now feel that we have the knowledge to truly improve the program for viewers, producers and advertisers. The changes listed below, which take effect today, are designed to meet two objectives:

1. Help us develop short-form video as an entertainment genre by showcasing a broad range of content that is entertaining to a large and diverse audience; and
2. Address concerns from viewers and advertisers about content that is inappropriate or uninteresting.

The program structure remains basically the same: any creator of an original video that meets the program requirements can submit his or her video for consideration, and we pay $5 per 1,000 views, starting at the 20,000 views mark.

What we’re updating are the criteria for acceptance into the program. A complete description of the Producer Rewards® program and its requirements is available here. We strongly encourage all producers to review this document before submitting their next video.

The most significant changes to the program are as follows:

• Going forward, we will not accept the following types of videos into the Producer Rewards® program on the basis that they are inappropriate or not entertaining:

• Videos that have sexual arousal as their primary purpose
• Videos that are primarily promotional vehicles for a product or service
• Videos that merely feature a person who is not doing anything entertaining or exceptional
• Note: Videos previously accepted into Producer Rewards® that fall into the categories described above have been removed from the program and the site. The affected creators will be paid for views that occurred before February 11, 2008. And they may re-publish their videos on Metacafe, though those videos are ineligible for future payments.

• Henceforth, videos that instruct viewers how to do something unsavory or potentially harmful to others – such as make a bomb or gun – will not be published on the Metacafe web site, as these do not meet our general content standards. Any such videos that may have previously been accepted into Producer Rewards® have been removed from the program and the site and are not eligible for re-publication on the site.

• Additionally, in the interest of delivering an exceptional entertainment experience well-suited to a large and diverse audience, we will be actively encouraging video creators to stretch their creative muscles and discouraging people from submitting “copycat” videos.

• Specifically, we will not accept videos into the Producer Rewards® program that are substantially similar to another video already in the program.
• We are also adding a “trends exhausted” page to the web site that will specify video themes that we are choosing to retire from the Producer Rewards® program on the basis that we have enough of a particular type of content and are receiving community complaints indicating viewer fatigue. This list will be updated regularly, so you may want to check it before producing or submitting your next video to Metacafe. The current list of exhausted trends is available here.
  
• Note: Creators who submitted their work to the Producer Rewards® program prior to the public communication of an exhausted trend will not be impacted. But any submissions received after a theme is posted to the “trends exhausted” page will be automatically rejected from the program.

After a year of running the program, we’ve learned a lot to help us better bring the creative spirit of Producer Rewards® to life and ensure that the program supports our goals of delivering an exceptional entertainment experience to our 30 million unique monthly viewers worldwide and building Metacafe into a global media company focused on short-form video entertainment powered and programmed by the audience.

Our intent is to maintain clear and transparent acceptance criteria so that video creators know what content is most likely to succeed. We are committed to making decisions that are consistent, fair and serve the shared best interests of our producers, viewers and advertisers. You’ll also notice in the full description of the program that we do reserve the right to make exceptions for exceptional videos.

We operate in a dynamic environment, and it is likely that we will introduce additional changes to the Producer Rewards® program in the future, which we will communicate as clearly and quickly as possible."