The Winter Games have officially ended for another year, and the mobile viewing statistics for 2010 compared to the Games in 2008 and 2006 are incredibly telling. Online viewing was a novelty during the last Winter Games. The trend picked up speed during the Beijing events two years ago, and mobile viewing began to gain traction then as well. But this year, the mobile platform hit its stride. While NBC has received its fair share of complaints for the way it chose to broadcast coverage of the Vancouver Games, audiences still flocked to the content both on TV and online. Here are the mobile stats as reported by NBC yesterday:

• In 16 days, the NBC Olympics Mobile platforms served up 82 million page views, more than doubling the 34.7 million page views during the entire Beijing Games
• Also in the first 16 days, NBC served 1.9 million mobile video streams, more than six times the number during 2008
• By the time the opening ceremony started, the Olympics Mobile platforms had already generated more page views than during the entire 2006 Games

Meanwhile, if you want a sense of what it took to produce all that coverage, take a look back at the dialog we recorded after the Beijing Games. The conversation comes from a session with Microsoft and NBC representatives during a Limelight Networks event in the fall of 2008. They covered everything from metadata creation to multi-bitrate delivery. You can also check out this video featuring Limelight engineers discussing more of the technical aspects behind delivering the Games. It’s no easy task.

This morning, we announced an agreement to acquire privately-held EyeWonder, Inc. You can read the full press release here.

If you’d like to listen to a replay of a conference call with our executives, you can dial 800-633-8284 or +1 402-977-9140 and enter passcode 21450847.

Yesterday, our corporate headquarters in Tempe was announced as one of the “Best Places to Work” in the Phoenix area.

The award, sponsored by the Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ, recognizes companies that create a work environment that supports and encourages their most valued resource – a talented employee base.

It’s an honor for our company to make the list and be a part of the 124 “Best Place to Work” in the Valley. The list was based on our programs, benefits, work environment and most importantly, our employees’ view of Limelight Networks.

We would like to thank and congratulate all of our employees across the globe for making Limelight Networks a great place to work while delivering brilliance on a daily basis.

The following post is written by Jonathan Cobb, CTO of our mobility and monetization solutions.

Last week, Verizon launched Motorola’s new Droid phone to much fanfare. According to Motorola, they sold 250,000 Droid smartphones in its first week, making it the most successful launch of an Android-based phone so far. And it certainly put Android on the map as a serious contender. Prior to the Droid launch, only smaller carriers like T-Mobile offered Android phones. Now the largest carrier in the US is putting all of its weight behind it, and it shows: Droid, in just short while on the market, already accounts for about one third of mobile video usage among Android phones.

So the big question to media publishers is: how will your video look on the Droid? Do you know if it even plays? Is the quality level the best it can be?

For publishers that have focused solely on the iPhone so far, making the jump to non-Apple devices can present a challenge. The sheer variety of screen sizes, operating system quirks, and video encoding parameters is truly staggering. Publishers who try to manage this chaos on their own quickly find themselves spending inordinate amounts of time playing catchup, contorting their publishing processes, and taking their focus away from where it should be - creating a compelling content experience for their audience, and growing that audience.

The LimelightREACH product was specifically designed to handle these inevitable events (and a whole lot more). Publishers using LimelightREACH didn’t have to change a thing. Their mobile websites didn’t have to change. The URLs to their videos on their mobile websites didn’t have to change. They never had to republish anything.

As if by magic, when a Droid user clicks to watch their video, the video plays, and it looks great. Which is exactly the user experience that every publisher wants their audience to have — it just works, no hassles.

With an ever-increasing number of handsets hitting the market in the coming months, Android and otherwise, this little adventure is bound to repeat itself ad naseum. Publishers who invest a little now in a scalable mobile video platform like LimelightREACH will reap huge operational efficiency rewards in the years to come.

Earlier this month Limelight Networks announced a deal with Bell in Canada to provide CDN services to the telco’s business customers. It’s a model that’s similar to the Limelight Networks partnership with Global Crossing, and representative of a trend we’re seeing among telecom companies looking to expand their traditional services. Here to provide more details is Adam Wray, Vice President, Channels and Alliances.

The new partnership with Bell is more than just a typical reseller deal. Because we operate an optical network just like Bell does, we can combine our delivery assets with their core network to integrate deeply with their existing broadband delivery services. This means a lot of joint effort between our two companies, but the upfront labor investment has big advantages. For Bell, we feed their highest revenue businesses. By being able to offer increased throughput and server availability, Bell can sell higher-value services to more customers. Bell also has access to the entire Limelight Networks ecosystem for related applications including content hosting, ad insertion, and performance monitoring, among many others. For us at Limelight Networks, the close integration with Bell gives us massive reach throughout Canada (Bell is the largest telco provider in the country), and greater insight into the Internet traffic patterns of Canadian broadband users. More visibility into the network lets us continue to refine and improve our delivery model.

We’ve found that telcos increasingly want strong CDN capabilities, but it’s a business that’s not core for them. It requires a great deal of capital and technical expertise, and for that reason, the CDN partnership model has growing support. Business customers find the CDN add-on appealing as well. Bell has already talked about signing multiple deals during the go-to-market period, including Astral Media, which is Canada’s largest broadcast of English and French-language pay and specialty TV services. The response has been incredible, and we’re just getting started.

This week’s NANOG meeting (the North American Network Operators Group) is shaping up to be one of most interesting to date. Arbor Networks, the University of Michigan, and Merit Network are presenting their findings at NANOG47 from a two-year global study of Internet traffic. The Internet Observatory Report is said to include analysis of changes in: Internet topology, commercial relationships between service providers, and Internet protocols and applications. The groups responsible for the report have already published some initial findings, and one data point in particular stands out. According to the study, there has been a rise in “Hyper Giants” of Internet traffic.

“Five years ago, Internet traffic was proportionally distributed across tens of thousands of enterprise managed web sites and servers around the world. Today, most content has increasingly migrated to a small number of very large hosting, cloud and content providers. Out of the 40,000 routed end sites in the Internet, 30 large companies – ‘hyper giants’ like Limelight, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and YouTube – now generate and consume a disproportionate 30% of all Internet traffic.”

The consolidation of traffic supports a premise that Limelight Networks has touted for some time: the importance of the middle mile. While traffic used to flow in a much more distributed fashion from end point to end point, a great number of IP packets today start in large data centers on hosted servers and are routed down the most efficient path before connecting to a last-mile network. This consolidation in the middle mile towards more efficient, network-based carriers leads to greater control and higher performance along the content delivery chain.

If that last point of emphasis sounds familiar, it should. Recently we announced the Limelight Networks next-generation XD Platform. The XD Platform is based on several patent-pending software technologies, but one of its key strengths is the ability to “see” network conditions around the world. Using that data, the platform determines the best route through the middle mile (largely on the private Limelight fiber network) and also to the end-user by adapting settings for the Internet conditions at that moment for high-performance (i.e. fast, sustained) content delivery. In other words, a lot of Internet traffic is conducted by Limelight Networks because of the promise of better, faster delivery. Hyper Giants are the companies like Limelight Networks that have perfected efficient delivery and have therefore started to gather a high percentage of Internet traffic over the last two years. We’re the FedEx and UPS companies of the IP world.

Interested in learning more? Read the complete Internet Observatory Report here.

With the rapid adoption of smartphones, widgets, set-top boxes, and other emerging devices, consumers are connecting to the Internet in entirely new ways. Wherever they are in the world and at any time, day or night, they expect a powerful online experience—with every content request they make.

To meet these escalating expectations, we’ve introduced XD, a global platform that combines network innovations with a patent-pending software layer called Adaptive Intelligence. Adaptive Intelligence operates within our network infrastructure to make real-time decisions about each content request — enabling every delivery to be handled as uniquely as the request.

The Adaptive Intelligence software layer includes four new technologies:

• Protocol Maximization configures standard delivery protocols on a per-connection, per-delivery basis for maximum performance.
• Globally Distributed User Agents gather real-time data about last-mile network conditions, providing insight into the end-user experience.
• Dynamic Origin automatically pulls copies of content from the origin based on usage and demand, protecting against overload and optimizing delivery.
• Custom Cache Hierarchies expedite the transfer of content to the edge based on the unique characteristics of each request.

To take advantage of the power and intelligence of the XD Platform, our customers can choose two new services, available today:

• LimelightDELIVER XD, a turbocharged version of our flagship content delivery service; and
• LimelightCONTROL XD, a suite of advanced management technologies that provide unprecedented levels of insight into and control over CDN operations.

This morning, Brightcove, Adobe, and Limelight Networks announced that Brightcove “has rolled out broad support for Adobe® Flash® Media Server 3.5 through content delivery services provided by Limelight Networks, Inc (NASDAQ: LLNW) providing more than 700 customers in 28 countries with turn-key access to enhanced dynamic delivery capabilities for HD-quality online video.” The full text of the press release, including quotes from Rainbow Media and Marvel Entertainment, can be found below. While the online write-ups seem to have covered the basics of the deal, we wanted to provide a few more details.

• Adobe was kind enough to guest-blog the Limelight launch of Flash media Server 3.5 only a few short weeks ago. Unlike some of our competitors, when we announce a service, we mean that it it available at scale anywhere in the world.
• Information about our Flash 3.5 streaming services is available here. You can also learn about our globally distributed network here.
• Along with our Flash 3.5 streaming services, our professional services team is offering on-site Integration Services. You can learn about those here, or fill out this form to have a representative set up a consultation.

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Brightcove Rolls Out Support for Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5 through Content Delivery Services from Limelight Networks®
More than 700 Brightcove customers in 28 countries gain turn-key access to enhanced capabilities for HD delivery and advanced security options for video on the Web

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., September 21, 2009—Brightcove Inc., the leading online video platform, today announced that it has rolled out broad support for Adobe® Flash® Media Server 3.5 through content delivery services provided by Limelight Networks, Inc (NASDAQ: LLNW) providing more than 700 customers in 28 countries with turn-key access to enhanced dynamic delivery capabilities for HD-quality online video. Brightcove has also introduced on-demand access to advanced security options for video stream encryption and SWF verification to the company’s global customer base.

“Organizations of all kinds today are faced with increasingly complex requirements around quality and security for online video publishing and distribution,” said Bob Mason, Brightcove’s chief technology officer. “In the past, publishers have been forced to choose between quality, security and a ubiquitous format for their online video experiences. With the Brightcove platform’s support for Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5 on Limelight Networks’ global infrastructure, we’re providing organizations of all sizes with turn-key access to the most advanced stack of technologies and services for high-quality and secure video distribution on the Web.”

This announcement delivers on Brightcove and Adobe’s strategic alliance, announced in April 2009, to collaborate on technology and services that will enhance the quality of online video experiences and accelerate the development of content protection for rich media. The announcement continues the longstanding alliance between Brightcove and Limelight Networks, while showcasing Limelight’s commitment to deploying industry-leading services at global scale based on Adobe’s products.

“We are pleased that Brightcove and Limelight Networks are adopting the industry’s latest innovations to address media companies’ complex requirements around the quality and security of online video,” said Scott Wellwood, director of business development for Adobe. “With the new capabilities of Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5, Brightcove can provide media companies with choice and control, as well as enable them to deliver superb online video experiences to viewers.”

The broad reach of the Brightcove platform and its use among top publishers and media outlets worldwide will accelerate the adoption of Flash Media Server 3.5, enabling organizations to deliver secure, up to HD-quality, long-form content to consumers through standard Web browsers without the need for non-standard software plug-ins or proprietary technology stacks. In rolling out Flash Media Server 3.5, Brightcove customers will be able to take full advantage of cloud-based services for H.264 encoding, bandwidth optimization, dynamic streaming for multiple renditions, interactivity, pre-built services for live and on-demand streaming, and other capabilities to deliver the highest quality end user experience for their online video content.

Brightcove platform customers can also access on-demand content protection features to prevent abuse and ensure that content is easily and reliably delivered. The Brightcove platform enables customers to protect against video interception and stream-ripping using RTMPe encryption. Customers can also use the SWF verification features in Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5 to prevent video playback within unauthorized video players.

“Online businesses are faced with the challenge of ensuring high-quality end-user experiences across multiple device types, geographies, and network architectures,” said David Hatfield, senior vice president, Limelight Networks. “Today’s announcement simplifies the online publishing value chain by bringing together the global scale, reach and reliability of Limelight’s content delivery service, Brightcove’s market-leading online video platform, and Adobe’s innovative new Flash Streaming Services.”

“Rainbow Media has a network of websites with a fast-growing online audience, which poses challenges considering the diverse network conditions and connectivity issues,” said Michael Cagnazzi, vice president of product development at Rainbow Media. “Brightcove’s support for Adobe FMS 3.5 will enable us take advantage of bandwidth detection and dynamic optimization of our video streams to ensure high-quality viewing experiences, all out-of-the-box and without having to introduce new workflows for our producers or software plug-ins for end-users.”

“For Marvel Entertainment, video quality and security are key priorities for all of our video assets, from hi-res movie trailers and full-length shows to exclusive interviews and promos,” said John Dokes, vice president of sales and marketing, Digital Media Group, Marvel Entertainment. “By integrating support for Adobe FMS 3.5 on Limelight’s infrastructure, Brightcove has introduced a powerful and comprehensive solution for Marvel’s wide-ranging online video requirements.”

We’re thrilled that our new mobility and monetization solutions, LimelightREACH and LimelightADS, have been named as finalists for a 2009 MOBI Award, in the “Best Mobile Innovation” category. Specifically, we’ve been recognized for our work powering mobile advertisements on NBC.com’s mobile site.  The MOBI Awards honor overall excellence and breakthrough achievement in mobile media, marketing and advertising, and we are proud that Limelight is being recognized by industry leaders after only a few short months of competing in this market. The awards ceremony will be held September 16^th in New York City.

To learn more about our mobile solutions, you can listen to this web cast featuring CTO Jonathan Cobb, or visit reach.llnw.com from your mobile phone.

The following is a guest post by Kevin Towes, Product Manager for Flash Media Server at Adobe. Limelight Networks thanks Kevin for contributing to our launch of Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5 and Dynamic Streaming.

I’m really excited to help announce that Dynamic Streaming has arrived! Limelight Networks now has Dynamic Streaming available – and a personal WOO HOO to their engineering and product teams for pushing our software to the Edge (literally)! This means that if you want to start using the most seamless and secure solution for multi-bitrate at massive scale, you can start today knowing that over 74% of connected PC’s have full support through Flash Player 10.

I’ve been on the road a lot lately, and the recurring theme people tell me is they want multi-bitrate and many have been testing it in their labs with a lot of success and that the technology will open new avenues for monetization. Limelight Networks gives you scale and capacity – they’ve been working very closely with Adobe engineers and have a deep understanding of how Dynamic Streaming works, and how best they can offer high quality of service over their worldwide network.

So why is the world going crazy over multi-bitrate now? Publishers want to offer a higher quality video to the end user, and viewers (including me) are tired of interruptions inherent with online video. So why is it important? A publisher needs to add value to media delivery to keep viewers longer and coming back for more.

It’s an easy answer- Consumers see value for a higher quality video or experiences they can interact with. Publishers are in a position to deliver and capitalize on offering an un-interrupted high quality experience. Think about the premium you pay for HD in your home. Content publishers can also use RTMPe and SWF Verification with Dynamic Streaming in both Live and OnDemand scenarios.

And as far as capacity goes, Limelight has it. With over 2.5Tbps of capacity around the globe, they have served over 9 million simultaneous streams during the Obama Inauguration and for the US Open in 2008, they handled a peak of 650,000 simultaneous streams for the playoff. And since Limelight tightly partners with Adobe, these events are able to be streamed in Flash on their network flawlessly.

Limelight has also done a lot to enhance the relationship between the CDN and the customer – they now have a full consulting group to help make companies successful. As video players become more complex, it’s important to know how to do things right, especially when you add a CDN. This service will be most important as customers start moving from a single bitrate strategy to a multi-bitrate strategy. These guys know Dynamic Streaming well and should help shorten the time and effort it takes to deploy it.

Get ready to deliver multi-bitrate! Here’s my “Do-List” for Dynamic Streaming:

1) Learn about recommended bitrates on Adobe.com.

2) Contact Limelight Networks to talk about Dynamic Streaming.

3) Start planning to have your on demand video use Dynamic Streaming.