VideoNuze tells us that Google is planning to provide ad-supported “high-quality video” (from Fox’s “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane) to affiliated websites. For free. The websites help distribute the content (a long tail distribution model). Google, MacFarlane and the website proprietor split the revenue.

Lest you think only big guys can play, consider Jambo Media — 12 employees, two years old, video syndication with 2 million views per day. Like Google, Jambo relies on affiliates to distribute the videos.

Amazon popularized this concept when it launched its affiliate program in 1996. In that program, website proprietors who linked to Amazon offerings got a small cut of any direct link sales.