Vimeo Unveils Pay to View Video Service

Vimeo has earned a reputation for hosting quality videos from amateurs and professionals alike. For now, it’s relying on ads and memberships for revenue and lets visitors view the videos free, but the YouTube competitor is also working on pay-per-view options. Today, Vimeo is previewing the pay-per-view system with six hand-picked, full-length movies. The service will be completely available to members in early 2013.
 

These full-length titles are available now as part of Vimeo's pay-per-view service preview.

The addition of pay-per-view seems natural to us: some of the movies on Vimeo are full-length and worth paying for. And, as Vimeo notes in its blog post on the topic, the pay-per-view setup furthers Vimeo’s goal of connecting movie makers directly with their audiences. So long as a good portion of the content on Vimeo remains free, it doesn’t seem like pay-per-view is likely to turn off regular visitors.

The pay-per-view service is part of Vimeo Creator Services, which is a toolbox for people who post movies for Vimeo who want make money from their films. Pay-per-view complements another Creator Serivces tool that is already in place, known as Tip Jar. The Tip Jar lets you quickly tip the creators of any Vimeo films that sport the “Tip this video” button.