How-to video site 5min has made its VideoSeed distribution platform, launched last month, a free service for site publishers, Beet.TV has learned. We are the first to break this news.  The move is win-win: site publishers can add related video content to their sites for free, and 5min expands the number of monthly uniques its videos can reach. So far, the semi-professional and professional videos can reach a potential audience of 110 million uniques on both large partner sites like wikiHow and Answers.com and smaller niche sites. Professional video content providers that use the service include NBC Universal, Ford Models, Elle, Kiplinger’s, and For Your Imagination, and the free syndication platform could give the company an edge over competitors like Howcast and Expert Village. In an interview with me at the Mogulus studio earlier this month, 5min CEO Ran Harnevo explained how the semantic technology behind 5min's syndication platform works. "If you have a web site of 1 million pages, we will still do a five minutes integration with you, and give you the right video to the right article," he says. He also talks about the advertising appeal of informational content, which attracts niche viewers with purchase intent. --Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer