WebProNews

Tag: Vimeo

  • A Single Customer Was Responsible for Fastly’s Outage

    A Single Customer Was Responsible for Fastly’s Outage

    Fastly has said a single customer caused yesterday’s outage, an outage that had widespread repercussions.

    Fastly made headlines yesterday when an issue with the company’s network led to a major outage. As a content delivery network, some of the biggest companies in the world rely on Fastly, including Amazon, the BBC, CNN, Financial Times, The New York Times, Reddit, Spotify, GitHub, Twitch, Stack Overflow, Hulu, HBO Max, Quora, PayPal, Shopify, Stripe and Vimeo.

    According to TheStreet, the company rolled out a software update in May that introduced a bug that could be triggered under very specific circumstances. The bug only needed a single customer to have a very specific configuration for the bug to active, which ultimately happened.

    “Even though there were specific conditions that triggered this outage, we should have anticipated it,” the company said. “We apologize to our customers and those who rely on them for the outage and sincerely thank the community for its support.”

  • CDN Glitch Leads to Massive Internet Outages

    CDN Glitch Leads to Massive Internet Outages

    A glitch at Fastly, a popular CDN, led to outages for some of the internet’s biggest sites Tuesday morning.

    CDNs, or content delivery networks, are distributed networks of servers designed to help websites and web apps manage their user load and remain responsive. Fastly is a popular CDN option that helps power some of the biggest websites on the net.

    Early Tuesday, a glitch at Fastly led to outages at the BBC, CNN, Financial Times, The New York Times, Reddit, Spotify, GitHub, Twitch, Stack Overflow, Hulu, HBO Max, Quora, PayPal, Shopify, Stripe and Vimeo.

    Fastly confirmed the issue, and was able to quickly resolve it, although the outage illustrates the challenges associated with so many websites relying on a single point of potential failure.

    “Today’s outage of major websites once again highlights the importance of access to online news and government services, underlining the importance of the internet for day to day living,” Matthew McDermott, Senior Officer, Access Partnership, a global tech policy consultancy, told WebPronews. “Fastly responded quickly to restored the issue but this serves as a reminder that resilience is an important part of digital infrastructure to modern life. Organisations and government bodies need to look at implementing the steps that look to assess, stabilize, improve and monitor to ensure this issue do not pose further problems in the future. Assessment is needed to determine the server’s bottleneck then stabilizing the issue with implementation of quick fixes will mitigate impact to broader stakeholders and users. After this, stakeholders will need to improve by augmenting and optimize server capabilities to ensure it meets the necessary needs. Lastly, regular monitoring will need to be set up using automated tools to help prevent future issues.”

  • Mozilla Leads the Charge For Net Neutrality’s Reinstatement

    Mozilla Leads the Charge For Net Neutrality’s Reinstatement

    Mozilla, along with a coalition of companies, has sent a letter to the FCC asking for the reinstatement of net neutrality.

    Net neutrality rules were passed during the Obama administration and repealed during the Trump administration. Net neutrality prohibits companies from treating different services or types of internet traffic by different standards, or setting up internet “fast lanes” for companies that pay more.

    For example, AT&T customers were able to watch HBO Max — which AT&T owns — on their mobile devices without the streaming counting against their data plans. In contrast, competing streaming services did count. If this type of practice became widespread, it could cause users to gravitate toward or away from certain services, based solely on the whims of the carriers and internet providers with a financial motivation to push or punish a particular service.

    In the case of AT&T, they announced they are dropping their preferential treatment of HBO Max as a result of California’s net neutrality legislation. While net neutrality was killed on a national level, individual states are free to impose their own rules, setting up a potential legislative quagmire.

    Mozilla, ADT, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Reddit, Vimeo and Wikimedia have now sent a letter to the FCC asking the agency to reinstate federal-level net neutrality.

    We are writing to express our support for the reinstatement of net neutrality protections through Federal Communications Commission (FCC) action. As leading internet-based businesses and organizations, we believe that these fundamental safeguards are critical for preserving the internet as a free and open medium that promotes innovation and spurs economic growth. Net neutrality enjoys bipartisan support among the American public, and many may need to rely on protections enforced by the FCC as more offices and classrooms continue to shift to online settings during the pandemic. By using its authority to restore net neutrality at the federal level, the FCC can help protect families and businesses across the country that rely on high-speed broadband access and help spark our recovery.

    Net neutrality simply preserves the environment that has allowed the internet to become an engine for economic growth. The rules serve as protections that users have in their relationship with internet service providers, preventing ISPs from blocking, throttling, or prioritizing traffic for payment. And in an environment where users frequently lack meaningful choices between ISPs, net neutrality can ultimately encourage greater long-term investment across the network stack by promoting broadband buildout, faster service, and new applications.

    While the current administration has not commented on its intentions, some experts believe it is only a matter of time before net neutrality is reinstated. Given the digital transformation underway, such legislation would go a long way toward protecting all users and companies.

  • Vimeo Raises $300 Million In Equity, Valued At $5.7 Billion

    Vimeo Raises $300 Million In Equity, Valued At $5.7 Billion

    Vimeo has raised $300 million in equity, raising its valuation to some $5.7 billion as it prepares to become independent.

    IAC announced in December its plans to spin Vimeo off as an independent, publicly traded company. As a video hosting platform, and YouTube’s prime competitor, Vimeo has experienced significant growth. In fact, the company saw 57% year-over-year revenue growth in December.

    As Vimeo prepares to go public, the new funding will provide the capital it needs to continue its growth and innovation.

    “As the world embraces video like never before, Vimeo is in an incredibly strong position to help more businesses take advantage of this powerful medium,” said Anjali Sud, CEO, Vimeo. “We have built an industry-leading solution that the market needs, and we intend to move swiftly to bring our professional-quality tools to millions more users.”

    “Vimeo is the quintessential IAC success story,” said Joey Levin, CEO, IAC. “With patience, discipline, and ambition, Vimeo has transformed from a tiny seed to a large global enterprise making its mark on the world, and Anjali Sud is an exceptional leader.”

  • Vimeo Will Be Spun Off As Independent Company

    Vimeo Will Be Spun Off As Independent Company

    IAC has announced it will spin Vimeo off as a fully independent, publicly traded company.

    Vimeo is a video hosting platform that serves as a major competitor to YouTube, with some 200 million users. Like many streaming platforms, Vimeo has experienced major growth as a result of the pandemic.

    IAC is now planning on capitalizing on that success, spinning off Vimeo as an independent company.

    “The combination of Vimeo’s remarkable growth, solid leadership position, and enormous market opportunity have made clear its future,” said Joey Levin, CEO, IAC. “It’s time for Vimeo to spread its wings and become a great independent public company.”

    “We have long believed in the power of video to advance human expression and transform businesses,” said Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo. “Today we have a rare opportunity to help every team and organization in the world integrate video throughout their operations, across all the ways they communicate and collaborate. Our all-in-one solution radically lowers the barriers of time, cost, and complexity that previously made professional-quality video unattainable. We’re ready for this next chapter and focused on making video far easier and more effective than ever before.”

    IAC expects the spinoff to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.

  • Vimeo Just Got A Lot Better On Mobile

    Vimeo announced a new, revamped version of its mobile site. It’s now faster and lets you better use the service without logging in, which should be great for generating more interest from casual users who never wanted to bother creating an account.

    Considering that I have watched random videos on the service for years, but only recently set up an account, I can definitely relate. Users can now like videos and save them to Watch Later without logging in.

    The company says in a blog post:

    If you’ve ever visited Vimeo on your phone, you’ve probably noticed it’s a bit different from the desktop version. Less screen space tends to mean fewer features and more creative uses of drawers and basements. The old mobile version of our site, though, tried to do a bit too much — it bit off more cookies than it could cache. That’s why we’re busting out an all-new mobile version of vimeo.com. It knows it can’t do it all, but what it does do, it does well.

    With so many humans visiting Vimeo on their phones, we wanted to make it as easy as possible to watch and share videos, no matter where you may be. To do so, we redesigned the mobile site from top nav to footer to bring you beautiful full-screen videos and fewer distractions. We also tweaked roughly a bajllion things under the hood to make it freakishly fast and 4G-friendly on multiple devices. So while our new mobile site may still be small in stature, its heart has grown three sizes!

    This is all apparently just the beginning of Vimeo’s mobile efforts. The company says additional features are on the way, including integration with its native apps.

    Image via Vimeo

  • Salesforce Desk.com Adds Video Customer Support

    Salesforce Desk.com Adds Video Customer Support

    Salesforce announced the launch of a new video support center for Desk.com, which it claims “empowers companies to transform their customer service offerings through video.”

    A spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews, “Now, companies can add video content from any of the leading video platforms to their online customer service strategy to empower customers to find instant, visual access to help.”

    The offering enables businesses to include one-click rich video content to replace or supplement text support articles. It also includes custom help center design templates and advanced knowledge reports, which cover video performance.

    Desk.com GM and SVP Leyla Seka says, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is priceless. Today customers expect video when it comes to customer service. Now any fast-growing company can use video to provide awesome customer service with Desk.com.”

    Customers with Vimeo PRO subscriptions can embed Vimeo’s HD player without advertising.

    Michael Weissman, GM at Vimeo, said, “Video is a powerful tool for brands to connect with customers and we’re seeing that at all levels at Vimeo, from highly produced branded films to product demo videos. As a Desk.com customer and video hosting platform, we’ve been integrating videos into support articles and understand first hand its value. We’re excited to be part of the new Video Support Center and empower other businesses with Vimeo’s affordable professional grade tools to create beautiful, well-crafted video for product overviews, how-to guides, troubleshooting and more.”

    The video support center is included with a Desk.com subscription, which starts at $30 per month, per agent.

    Image via Desk.com

  • Online Dating Site Tests DNA to Determine Matches

    Online Dating Site Tests DNA to Determine Matches

    A new online dating site catering to sophisticated professionals called Singldout.com offers users the opportunity to submit their DNA to bolster their chances of finding a long-term match.

    Singldout has partnered with Instant Chemistry, a service that tests DNA for “biological compatibility” in an established, long-term relationship. Instant Chemistry mentions that while relationships grow, DNA remains constant – couples are urged to submit their DNA to be tested, and then take a personality test to see if they like one another.

    Singldout adapts Instant Chemistry’s high technologies for use in the realm of dating. Singldout users sign up via their Linkedin profile, hinting at a standard of sophistication that exceeds that of Zoosk, and then submit payment. Singldout membership is $199 for three months, $249 for six months or $299 for 12 months.

    After payment is submitted, a DNA testing kit arrives in the mail, the user spits in a tube, sends it off to Instant Chemistry, and the results are posted on a Singldout dating profile, after the user takes an online psychological exam.

    SingldOut from SingldOut on Vimeo.

    The DNA tests assess two indicators to suggest compatibility – the serotonin uptake transporter, which regulates how people react to positive and negative emotions, and genes influencing the immune system. Co-founder of Instant Chemistry Ron Gonzalez points out that research has shown that there is a correlation with successful long-term relationships and different versions of serotonin and immune system genes.

    “With online dating, you have socioeconomic factors people try to match on – religion, how much you make. This is another layer on top of that so you can better find matches,” Gonzalez said.

    “America’s Relationship Expert” Dr. Wendy Walsh further explains DNA dating:

    Dr. Wendy Walsh from SingldOut on Vimeo.

    Mike Dougherty, director of education for the American Society of Human Genetics, advises the lovelorn that there are countless other genes and environmental factors that come into play. “If this is a marathon, we’re still inside the first mile,” he said, adding that Singldout is “looking at a very small number of genes, and you simply cannot extrapolate a prediction from those genes to long-term compatibility.”

    Gonzalez remarked that he does not want the Singldout service to be seen as “deterministic.” “If I could predict with 100% certainty who you will fall in love with, this would be amazing,” he said. “No technology can do that. We’re very cognizant and realistic. We know a lot of variables happen when you fall in love.”

    Image via Vimeo

  • Vimeo Is Now Doing Original Content, Starting with New Episodes of ‘High Maintenance’

    Vimeo is getting into the original content game.

    Today, the online video company announced that it had made its first original programming investment into High Maintenance, an already-existing web series that follows a neurotic pot dealer around New York City. It’s received a decent amount of popularity online, and has guest-starred celebrities like Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens and comedian Hannibal Buress. The series, which already has 13 free-to-watch episodes up on Vimeo, will get a cash injection to finance six new episodes.

    These episodes will eventually be made available on Vimeo On Demand.

    “We’re all huge fans of High Maintenance and couldn’t be happier to make our first original programming investment in a show that’s developed organically on Vimeo,” said Kerry Trainor, CEO, Vimeo. “Earlier this year we announced an initial $10 Million investment to license content for distribution on Vimeo On Demand from creators seeking alternatives to ad-based models and this is an exciting next step for the platform.”

    Vimeo made that investment in March–$10 million to fund new content to pump into their on-demand video service. At the time, Vimeo said that it would “work with filmmakers and distributors to accelerate its investment in quality individual titles and catalogs suited to Vimeo’s unique audience,” and it’s clear that they have done so with the popular and critically-acclaimed High Maintenance.

    Vimeo on-demand service is just a little over a year old, and it lets video makers sell their work and take a (0% cut of the profits–it’s pay-per-view, but in the hands of the creators. This is the first time Vimeo is putting its own money into original content for Vimeo On-Demand, however.

    There’s no word on what it’ll cost to watch the new episodes of High Maintenance–but it’ll most definitely cost something. Unlike Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, and other streaming video companies getting into the original content game, Vimeo is sporting a unique model that allows people to pay (or rent) per episode, instead of one subscription price for all content.

    Image via screenshot, High Maintenance, Vimeo

  • Angola Prison Rodeo Marks 50th Anniversary

    This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of Louisiana’s Angola Prison Rodeo, drawing thousands of spectators into the detention center complex. The rodeo, called “the wildest show in the South,” draws in funds for religious and educational programs for prisoners, with each springtime event raising roughly $450,000.

    The Angola Prison Rodeo commenced in 1964 as a recreational activity for the inmates and prison guards, and was originally closed to the public. Over time, more and more spectators began to arrive for the events, watching from the hoods of cars and apple crates outside of the fence. Seeing an opportunity to generate profit, prison officials eventually began selling tickets and setting up seating for fans.

    Angola, a maximum security facility, holds some of Louisiana’s most violent offenders, and according prison athletics director Gary Frank, only the most well-behaved inmates get to participate in the games. Prisoners spend their time during the year preparing arts and crafts which are sold at the rodeo event, which can hold 10,000 spectators. “It keeps them occupied, keeps their minds occupied,” Frank said. “It also gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment.”

    Here is a piece on the prison entitled Lockup: Inside Angola:

    Here is a clip from the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Wildest Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo:

    The Wildest Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo from Ramzy Telley on Vimeo.

    The Angola Rodeo event schedule includes the Grand Entry, the Bust Out, Bareback Riding, the Wild Horse Race and Barrel Racing, which is the sole event in which inmates do not participate. The barrel racing event is a tour stop for The Girl’s Rodeo Association. The prison rodeo concludes with an event called Convict Poker, in which four inmate cowboys sit at a table in the middle of the arena playing a game of poker, while being attacked by a bull. The last man sitting wins.

    Frank commented, “Everybody has an inner kid in them, and they (the inmates) just want to play. If they get into a fight, they don’t get to play. It helps take out the nonsense.” Rodeo spectator Monique Wagner added, “they’re still human beings.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Check Out This Haunting Alison Krauss Video

    Alison Krauss has one of those angelic voices that can either make you instantly happy or bring tears to your eyes before you curl up in the fetal position. Her haunting vocals have been lent to projects with Sting and Robert Plant, just to name a couple, and now she’s brought them to a song for a Sandra Boynton book/CD about a lost plush rabbit trying to make it home in a storm.

    The video tells the story of a boy and his mama having a picnic on a lovely day when suddenly, the sky begins to amass an army of storm clouds. In their hurry to pack up their things and get to the car before the rain falls, they fail to see that the boy’s bunny has been left behind. So begins the journey of a plucky stuffed animal who just wants to get home.

    The song is from Boynton’s mixed-media project “Frog Trouble”. Check out the video and try not to let the guy in the next cubicle see you cry.

    Alison Krauss – “End of a Summer Storm” from Sandra Boynton’s “Frog Trouble” [Official Music Video] from Crazy Lake Pictures on Vimeo.

    Image via Vimeo

  • Vimeo Introduces New Features For Its On Demand Service

    Vimeo’s On Demand service is an exceptional place to discover new independent movies that circumvent the traditional movie-making/distribution process. The service does a fine job showcasing its independent content, but more than that, the goal is to give filmmakers a platform to display and monetize their creations. From the On Demand about page:

    Vimeo On Demand is an open self-distribution platform that enables anyone to sell their work, their way — with all the power of Vimeo’s beautiful video player, easy-to-use tools, and passionate audience.

    The “On Demand” aspect implies monetary transactions, and users can buy or rent movies they’re interested in, and the prices are certainly reasonable. For instance, the going price for Some Girl(s) is $5 for rental and $10 to own. To help make their service even more attractive for content creators, Vimeo introduced some updates to their On Demand service; all of which are designed to make the monetization process much easier:

    – Rent and Own Pricing Options: Creators can offer viewers the ability to rent (stream) or buy (download) content at separate prices.

    – Preorder Availability: All Vimeo On Demand sellers can build buzz and drive advanced sales by making content available for preorder.

    – Promo Code Generator: Filmmakers can create promo codes that enable viewers to access work at no cost; codes can be sent to press or other partners and used immediately in the improved Vimeo On Demand checkout.

    – Advanced Statistics: Sellers now get more information about their works, including trailer plays, paid video plays, and additional revenue details. In addition, Vimeo On Demand stats are now rolled into a PRO member’s Advanced Stats, which makes them more accessible and easier to understand.

    Considering Vimeo’s efforts to make the independent movie distribution process much easier on content creators, which service is more attractive for would-be movie makers? YouTube or Vimeo?

    [Lead image courtesy of Vimeo On Demand]

  • Chromecast To Get More Content From Vimeo, Redbox Instant

    Google surprised everyone last week with the announcement of the Chromecast. The Chrome OS-based Nexus Q successor streams content directly to your TV from YouTube, Netflix and even your Chrome browser. Google said it would work to secure more partners to bring more content to the device, and those partners are already lining up.

    Gigaom reports that both Vimeo and Redbox Instant have said they’re working to integrate Chromecast into their apps. Other services like Plex and HBO Go haven’t officially said they would be supporting the new device, but signs are pointing to both announcing something in the near future.

    All of this support for Chromecast is the perfect illustration of why it may very well succeed where the Nexus Q failed. For starters, it’s incredibly cheap at $35, but more importantly, it’s easy to develop for. Google has already released a Chromecast SDK preview and developers need only integrate it into their own app. Most other devices, like Roku, require companies to build apps specifically for it.

    The Chromecast has been out for less than a week and its prospects are already looking far better than the Nexus Q’s. It doesn’t hurt that the device is backordered on the Google Play Store while the majority of reviews have been positive. It really looks like Google has a hit on their hands with Chromecast, and this recent surge of support from content companies is a good sign.

    As an aside, you might want to check out ifixit’s teardown of the Chromecast. Google packed quite a bit of tech into the tiny dongle, and it gives you a new appreciation for how much of an improvement it is over the ill-fated Nexus Q.

  • With ‘Hundreds’ of Paid Videos Uploaded, Vimeo Launches New On Demand Homepage

    Last month, Vimeo launched a full video on demand service that lets Vimeo PRO creators sell their work on the site. It’s pay-to-view, with much freedom (and profits) given to the creators. Creators get to set the price for their work, and they take 90% of the profit.

    Today, just over a month later, Vimeo is announcing that creators have uploaded hundreds of paid videos, and viewers have made “thousands” of purchases. Not too specific, but it looks like there’s at least some significant buzz over Vimeo’s newest project. With their VOD service off and running, Vimeo is now looking to make all the content easier to discover.

    To that end, Vimeo has launched a redesigned On Demand homepage.

    “Introducing: the new Vimeo On Demand home page, which puts the focus on the creative films and series distributed using the new platform. Looking for something to watch tonight? Boom. Check out “Vimeo Selects” for titles we find interesting, or browse the entire On Demand catalog by genre. You can even keep track of all your On Demand purchases in “My On Demand,” right on this page. Because it’s hard to remember them all when you’ve bought hundreds of them, right? RIGHT!?” says Vimeo’s Blake Whitman.

    The dive in paid videos began back in September of last year, when Vimeo introduced their Creator Services platform. The first service unveiled was the “tip jar,” which allowed viewers to leave tips for video creators. Vimeo promises that there are more improvements left to be made to their new VOD platform.

    Have you paid to stream anything using Vimeo yet?

  • Vimeo On Demand Lets Creators Make Pay-to-View Videos with a 90/10 Split

    Back in September, Vimeo launched their new Creator Services suite, which they billed as a set of “simple, powerful tools to help creators make more money for doing what they do best.” The first part of that was the “tip jar,” which allowed video creators to set up donations on their video pages. At the time, Vimeo teased that paid videos were on the horizon.

    A couple of months later in November, Vimeo took a baby step toward that with a pay-to-view service complete with six movies released to their Vimeo Movies site.

    Today, Vimeo is launching the full video on demand service that will let video makers sell their work on the site. It’s pay-to-view, put squarely in the hands of the creators.

    “We’re creators ourselves, and we know how hard it can be to get your work out there and connect with an audience. Since we founded Vimeo in 2004, we’ve been dreaming of a world where more and more creators can support themselves with their work alone. Today we’re proud to be taking a big step in that direction, and there are many more exciting steps to come,” says Vimeo.

    Vimeo On Demand features customizable viewing options that let creators decide exactly how much to charge for their video, the viewing period (how long it can be viewed after purchase), and even where it can be viewed (regional limiting). Creators can also customize their Vimeo On Demand pages and sell the films on their own sites, using Vimeo’s framework.

    And the split is a flat 90/10. Creators keep 90% of the revenue generated by the views of their videos. Which, to a lot of artists, is a more than fair split.

    To get started with Vimeo’s new pay-to-view service, you must be a Vimeo PRO member.

  • Vimeo Launches ‘Looks,’ Adds Over 500 New Visual Effects to Their Enhancer Tools

    Vimeo has just gone a little Instagram and unveiled new video enhancement options to their “Enhancer” toolbox.

    Adding to the already available selection of musical accompaniments for your videos, you can now add new “Looks” to your videos. Looks are described as “high quality, stylistic visual effects” and Vimeo is starting off by offerring over 500 of them.

    Vimeo has partnered with visual enhancement platform Vivoom to bring you the new Looks.

    Vimeo notes that the “recommended” offerings will be show an “optimal set of creative choices based on technical analysis of the user’s video and social data,” meaning that it will learn about you the more you use it. Hopefully, that will make the recommendations actually useful when you’re deciding how to enhance your videos.

    “By adding Looks, Vimeo continues to provide the tools that help people easily make better videos,” said Vimeo CEO, Kerry Trainor. “Nearly every minute you see on TV or in movies has been visually enhanced. Everyone wants the same quality as the pros, but it’s out of reach for most people. Our aim is to make these types of high quality visual effects easy and accessible to everyone.”

    To refer to Instagram is to sell the new features short, most likely. At first, it does feel a lot like simple filters but the sheer breadth and depth of the options make Looks a powerful new tool to Vimeo-using filmmakers.

    You can browse (and try out) all the new Looks today. It will be completely free to play around with for 90 days, after which things will begin to cost money. Many of the Looks show a $0.99 price tag, which is currently crossed out and labelled as FREE. For now.

  • Vimeo Adds Content Ratings to Videos (Mature, All Audiences, Not Yet Rated)

    Vimeo allows non-sexual nudity (anything expect explicit porn). Everybody knows that. It’s one of the things that sets it apart from other video streaming sites like YouTube.

    Vimeo says that it’s a testament to their “unflinching belief in the integrity of visual storytelling,” because “one cannot ignore the naked, the violent, and the swearing when striving to capture the breadth of the human condition.” Amen to that.

    But not all video ares suitable for all audiences, even if they do accurately depict the human condition. With that in mind, Vimeo is introducing new content ratings.

    Starting today, you’ll see a new badge next to the title/artist info on all videos on the site. It will either read “mature,” “all audiences,” or “not yet rated.”

    “This means we’ll ask creators to tell us if there’s nudity, violence, or illegal substances (e.g., plutonium) in their videos, which can still be uploaded to Vimeo as long as they comply with our Guidelines. For those who never upload videos with mature content, it’s easy to mark everything as appropriate for all audiences in your global video settings,” says Vimeo.

    YouTube, for instance, has featured warnings on some videos that they have been restricted due to age guidelines and that they may contain mature content. Vimeo, who has always been known for allowing a little more artistic freedom should we say, isn’t limiting any of that. They’re just giving people an additional heads-up.

  • Vimeo Boasts 14 Million Members and Over 675 Million Total Visits to End 2012

    Vimeo says that their 2012 was amazing, now that they’ve grown to the size of the principality of Liechtenstein. Like most companies, Vimeo has released their 2012 year-in review, which features some interesting user statistics. Mainly, their member base has grown exponentially in 2012.

    “It’s that time of year when a company’s thoughts turn to itself. Which is frankly what a company is always thinking about, because you pretty much have to if you don’t want the company to flounder or go off the rails or insert your favorite catastrophe cliché here. And now that we’ve taken a good hard look at Vimeo, we’re left with two mutually inclusive thoughts: 1. Dang, there are a lot more homo sapiens here than last year. 2. Wow, we sure accomplished a lot in 2012,” says Vimeo’s Chris Diken.

    Vimeo says that they now have over 14 million members, with over 5 million of them joining this year. That means that 37% of all Vimeo members are relatively new members.

    Vimeo hosts over 50 million videos, as that milestone was hit back in September. Videos uploaded this year total over 3.2 petabytes of data with 1.4 petabytes transcoded. Vimeo says that 200+ petabytes were played in 2012.

    And in total visits to the site, Vimeo hit 675 million.

    If you’re looking for some context to those numbers, YouTube boasts over 800 million unique visits every month. Last year, YouTube said they hosted over a trillion views.

    Vimeo has had a busy year. They kicked it off with a significant site redesign back in January. A couple of months ago, they launched their new set of creator tools which included a Tip Jar for videomakers. They also kicked off their new pay-to-view product which they will continue to expand in 2013. Just recently, Vimeo shipped a major update to their iOS app and finally landed on the Xbox 360.

  • Vimeo Launches New Xbox 360 App for LIVE Gold Members

    Vimeo Launches New Xbox 360 App for LIVE Gold Members

    Vimeo is now on your Xbox 360. The company has just announced an all new Vimeo app for Xbox LIVE that you can download and enjoy today, considering you have an Xbox LIVE Gold account.

    The video screen on the new Vimeo for Xbox app included descriptions, credits, and related videos. Logged-in users can also like and share videos as well as follow users from inside the app.

    Oh yeah, and Vimeo HD videos are in HD. Which is one of the main reason you would want a Vimeo app on your console – so good on you Vimeo.

    Here are some of the other cool things about Vimeo’s new Xbox 360 app, according to Vimeo:

    • Vimeo in HD on your giant TV: You know, the way you watch everything else.
    • Continuous play: Turn on your feed, your Watch Later queue, or an Album of your favorites and then wonder where three hours went. Or create a party Album to play in the background during your next shindig.
    • Voice and gesture controls with Kinect for Xbox 360: Just tell your Xbox what you want, like it’s your buddy. Maybe soon you’ll be able to control Vimeo with your MIND.*
    • Connect your Xbox LIVE account to Vimeo: See your Xbox LIVE friends’ activity and stay logged into Vimeo whenever you’re on Xbox LIVE.

    For Xbox users, their video streaming options are expanding rapidly. They now have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Vimeo, and more at their fingertips.

    Late last month, Vimeo launched an totally redesigned iPhone app that was faster as brought better navigation and background video uploading.

  • Vimeo’s iPhone App Gets Better Navigation, Background Uploading

    Vimeo has just launched a new iPhone app that streamlines navigation and sharing while making uploading faster and simpler as well.

    “The new app is simply the best way to watch, create and share Vimeo videos on the go. We redesigned it to be smarter and more intuitive so you can do what you want, when you want, really easily. You can take your feed on a road trip (just not while you’re driving), relax in the park with your Watch Later queue, or catch a Staff Pick or a friend’s video while in line for lunch. When the lunch line explodes into spontaneous song and dance, as it often does, record it and upload it right from the app. You can even watch more videos while it uploads,” says Vimeo.

    Uploading has gotten a lot faster with this update, as users can let their videos upload in background while watching other videos or adding information to the upload.

    On the browsing side, there’s a new Feed view and a tab-based design that replaces the old grid-style navigation. This makes it much easier to find videos via an Explore tab, or watch videos from your feed, “watch later” queue, or your “likes.” Sharing has also improved, as users can now natively share videos they like via Facebook, Twitter, or email.

    Of course, Vimeo says that everything is now “super fast.”

    Check out the not-creepy-at-all promotional video Vimeo made for their new iPhone app below:

    Recently, Vimeo launched an all-new Creator Services Suite which allowed video creators to add a tip jar to their videos. Also on the horizon over at Vimeo: Pay-to-view videos.

  • Vimeo Kicks Off Pay-to-View Service With 6 New Films

    Back in September, Vimeo launched their new Creator Services suite, a set of tools designed to help video creators make a little bit of money for their efforts. The first tool that was unveiled as a part of the suite was Tip Jar, which allows viewers to “tip” creators with a contribution ranging from $1 to $500.

    At that time, Vimeo also announced a brand new pay-to-view service to allow video creators to charge a set fee for access to their content. They were tight-lipped about many of the details, but said it would be coming soon.

    Today, they are previewing that pay-to-view service by releasing 6 new films to the newly-created site, Vimeo Movies.

    Starting today, Vimeo users can pay between $5 and $9 to stream the films. Here’s what they are offering:

    Sunny – Level 1 injects a positive mood into the ski season — giving a dose of light therapy to dark northern landscapes of Scandinavia, Alaska, Japan and British Columbia.

    Further – Award winning producers Teton Gravity Research are pleased to announce Further, the second installment in the Jeremy Jones snowboard movie trilogy, Deeper, Further, Higher, presented by O’Neill.

    Shut Up and Play the Hits – documents a once in a life time performance and an intimate portrait of James Murphy as he navigates the end of LCD Soundsystem.

    Beauty is Embarrassing – a funny, irreverent, joyful and inspiring documentary featuring the life and current times of one of America’s most important artists, Wayne White.

    We are Legion – The Story of the Hacktivists, takes us inside the complex culture and history of Anonymous. The film explores early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, and then moves to Anonymous’ own raucous and unruly beginnings on the website 4Chan.

    Son of the Clouds – This compelling documentary brings to light the political and human rights issues facing the people of the Western Sahara and the responsibility of Western powers in the effort to restore peace to the region.

    Once you purchase a film, it will be available to stream on any compatible device.

    “Our mission is to support totally original video and the people who create it, which means providing more than a home. It means creating an environment where creators can access the resources to make their next film, and the one after that. Our new pay-to-view service enables creators to upload and distribute work that they depend on for their livelihood, all with easy setup and affordable rates. In turn, our community gets access to amazing work from the world’s leading filmmakers,” says Vimeo.

    Of course, Vimeo is not only monetizing in order to help artists, but to help their bottom line. The mostly ad-free service generates most of its revenue from selling pro services to both users and creators. Vimeo is currently taking a 15% cut of any contributions made to videos’ tips jars. The pay-to-view service is still in beta, and Vimeo says they will open it up to more video creators in 2013.