Posted 12/03/08 at 09:14:37 AM by Paul Lilly

In a move that would make FCC Chairman Kevin Martin proud, YouTube laid out several goals for itself, half of which had to do with clamping down on sexual content. Rest assured, YouTube has "been thinking a lot lately" about how to make the entire video viewing experience a more pleasant one, and here's what it came up with:

• Stricter standard for mature content: YouTube's pulling in the reins on censored material and in addition to pornographic images and sex acts, which are already removed when flagged, the video sharing site is also redefining what it considers "sexually suggestive." Among other criteria, any video intended or designed to arouse viewers will be considered sexually suggestive.
• Demotion of sexually suggestive content and profanity: Videos that fall under the above category and/or contain profanity "will be algorithmically demoted" from YouTube's 'Most Viewed,' 'Top Favorited,' and other browser pages.

The two other changes YouTube plans to make involve improving its thumbnails so that the image actually represents the video, and enforcing more accurate video information.

Like, dislike, or are indifferent to the changes? Hit the jump and post your thoughts.

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media, web 2.0, youtube

Posted 11/25/08 at 02:30:36 PM by Paul Lilly

If you've logged into YouTube today, you may have noticed that the embedded video player looks wider. That's because it is. In a blog post, YouTube announced it has widened the width of the page to 960 pixels in response to customer feedback, but that might only be part of the story.

According to reports, YouTube is looking to offer feature films by as early as next month and has already convinced one major Hollywood movie studio to jump on board. By upgrading its video player to support widescreen content, YouTube puts itself in a better position to pitch its service to even more content producers and better compete with other video sites like Hulu. Hulu, despite trailing YouTube by a wide margin in the number of viewers, is on track to catch up to YouTube in advertising revenue next year.

In the meantime, for those that prefer to watch crappy amateur videos in the 4:3 aspect ratio, YouTube ensures they will play just fine in the new player.

Good move for YouTube? Hit the jump and post your thoughts.

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Internet, widescreen, streaming video, youtube, web video

Posted 11/19/08 at 11:57:05 AM by Paul Lilly

YouTube, Google's $1.65 billion acquisition, leads the online video pack with 83 million viewers in U.S. That puts the video sharing site well ahead of Hulu, at least in terms of viewers, who compares with 6 million viewers, according to market researcher Nielsen. But when it comes to advertising revenue, the playing field is much more level.

Arash Amel, an analyst at digital media research group Screen Digest, suggests that Hulu's advertising revenue is growing much more rapidly than YouTube. By his own forecasts, Amel estimates YouTube will generate about $100 million by the end of 2008, whereas Hulu won't be too far behind at an estimated $70 million. The two are expected to be dead even next year, with both companies generating about $180 million in the U.S.

"YouTube is in a very tough place right now," said Mr Amel. "Most of that user-generated content is worthless or illegal. The next 18 months will determine whether or not it was just an expensive mistake for Google."

Whether or not YouTube can retain its lead remains to be seen. Matthew Liu, a YouTube advertising product manager, notes that the site isn't where it should, but the question is, what can it do about it?

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streaming, video, advertising, youtube, Hulu

Posted 11/14/08 at 11:40:46 AM by Paul Lilly

YouTube might not ever be the cash cow Google hoped it would be when it purchased the video sharing site for $1.65 billion, but it won't be from lack of trying. The latest money making scheme being rolled out is a new ad platform YouTube is calling Sponsored Videos.

Sponsored Videos will let users promote their videos by bidding on keywords, whether those users be individuals or corporations. To help with the process, Google has created automated tools for users to place their bids for the keywords they want. As surfers type in those keywords, YouTube will display the tagged videos next to the search results. The new feature seems like an obvious one, so what took YouTube so long to implement it?

"In hindsight, it is a natural transition for YouTube to make," said Matthew Liu, a YouTube product manager. "We've been working on this for months. The key was, we wanted to make sure we got it right. There are a lot of intricacies involved. YouTube is a video discovery platform. We've been integrating with Google AdWords for some time, and now we're at a place where it can be win and win."

The Sponsored Videos will be clearly labeled when they appear following a keyword search and come priced on a cost-per click formula.

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Google, ads, youtube, videos, search terms

Posted 11/13/08 at 06:40:08 PM by Andy Salisbury

Understandably, AT&T might not be the name that one thinks of when they consider a comprehensive online video search. But, remaining open minded (as one tends to do in San Francisco), you can’t help but notice how well the telecommunications giant has pulled off their very first video search site, VideoCrawler.

In conjunction with start-up company Divvo, AT&T has managed to launch VideoCrawler, a search that has more than 1,600 online video outlets latched directly into its brain. Sites such as YouTube and MySpace are among the long list of video channels available.

While they don’t offer any services for uploading your own videos, they do have a pretty impressive collection. So go ahead, search for that clip of the dog that never learned how to bark. Chances are might good that you’ll be able to track it down.

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myspace, youtube, at&t, online video, VideoCrawler

Posted 11/13/08 at 11:31:41 AM by Paul Lilly

YouTube superstars will soon have a chance to become, um, YouTube super-duper stars as the video sharing sites gets ready to dive into live programming. YouTube Live, as the show is being called, will kick off on November 22 in San Francisco and feature recognizable stars like Will.i.Am and singer Katy Perry, along with talents from the the likes of 20-year-old Esmee Denters known for her amateur videos singing cover versions of popular songs.

"The value of YouTube is we've created this platform that's been driven by the community, so this is in reaction to that," said YouTube spokesman Chris Di Cesare. "Having a community event that the community values benefits all involved."

Roughly 50 entertainers responsible for more than 2.5 billion video views are scheduled to appear on YouTube Live. The Google-owned video sharing site also said it plans to hold follow-up events to YouTube Live, but made no mention of what those events might entail.

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youtube, videos, live programming, webcast

Posted 11/12/08 at 02:54:44 PM by Andy Salisbury

After banning the troops from YouTube in 2007 for bandwidth and security issues, the Military is attempting to turn a quagmire into something positive.

The attempt, better known as the US Military’s new video sharing site, aptly named TroopTube, is already up and running. Potential members can register as a member of one of the three braches of the armed forces, a family member, or a civilian. Once registered, users can upload personal videos. But instead of being simply processed, this time the video is screened by a Pentagon employee to ensure that there isn’t anything naughty.

“A lot of people are excited … to be doing something for the people who make sacrifices,” said Alex Castro, the Chief Executive on the project. “We're proud of this.”

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youtube, military, TroopTube

Posted 11/07/08 at 06:51:32 PM by Andy Salisbury

As it turns out, YouTube’s recent addition of their theater mode will be used for not only longer high-def videos, but full-length feature films as well. One of Hollywood’s biggest (and still unnamed) movie studios could be adding content to the site as early as next month.

Google has been in talks with major film companies for months about launching ad-supported movies on YouTube, and two unnamed executives stated that the deal wouldn’t be sealed immediately, “But it's going to happen. I would say you can expect to see it, if all goes well, sometime within the next 30 to 90 days.”

Currently Hulu is the leader in online hi-def video and YouTube is hoping to take a shot at the throne. Hulu has found an honorable halfway point between ads and content, but it remains unclear that YouTube will be able to replicate that. Google has yet to disclose any specifics, but a spokeswoman commented, “We are in negotiations with a variety of entertainment companies. Our goal is to offer maximum choice for our users, partners, and advertisers.” While blanket statements are fun, they leave much to be desired.

I suppose, with most deals like this one, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

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movies, youtube, Hulu, streaming movies