We Web users have it pretty good at the moment: In exchange for the trove of digital content we consume on a regular basis, we're generally asked little more than to pretend to notice the occasional banner ad.

But when it comes to requesting much more from us, we don't really want to hear it. (Sorry, YouTube Inc. , your business model is simply too great a burden on my plan to watch Golden Girls clips all afternoon.)

For this reason, among others, video sites are having a difficult time making money, with even the big players struggling to find a business model. The obvious solutions have involved testing pre- and post-roll ads, but market research shows that users are not likely to put up with such ads on short-form video.

"Pre-rolls, post-rolls, and banner ads are too intrusive and are ineffective," says Scott Broomfield, CEO of Veeple, a Los Gatos, Calif.-based company that provides tools for users to create interactive video. Rather, he says, relevant ads must be embedded throughout the video to create an interactive experience.

With Veeple, content creators can embed anything from links to snarky thought bubble comments in their videos. For Website owners, there's a subscription fee of $99 per month to use the platform. The interactive areas, or "VeeSpots," are intended as an answer for those looking to monetize video content.

"The thesis we held is, what if we can figure out a way to take that branding experience and put that inside video?" he says. "There needs to be a way to better monetize the video itself and how to do so in a way that's non-intrusive so you don't just click it off and just disengage." Broomfield says Veeple will allow for drop-down menus inside of videos to give the user the option to explore a certain person or product further, without interrupting the experience.

Making the experience "engaging" sounds nice and all. But those of us blessed with full-sized brains are well aware when we're being marketed to, usually rendering such efforts ineffective and users disinterested in the extreme.

"That's a fundamental problem and a fundamental opportunity," says Broomfield. "Part of being non-intrusive is to recognize you're being marketed to. The thing you've got to do is make that less intrusive and more relevant. If it's not relevant, then you really hate it."

Hmmmm... We may hate it even if it is relevant. Worse, this interactive model assumes that video viewers have an interest in being, well, active when, in fact, online video watching is enjoyed as a passive activity, often endured in a post-lobotomy-like state.

"One of the reasons I believe interactive television is not there yet is because when you come home at 10 o'clock at night to watch the news... you just want to watch the friggen news," says Broomfield. "Online video is a little different because you have the opportunity to share it. We know you're willing to engage to one degree. The question becomes, can you also change your behavior one more degree?

"If you were trying to change behavior five degrees or 10 degrees, forget it, game over."

With all hopes of monetization in the users' hands... let the games begin.

— Nicole Ferraro, Site Editor, Internet Evolution