Pakistan’s new IT and telecommunications minister has a problem. She wants to end to longstanding ban on Google’s YouTube, but she also needs assurances that Google will work to block “blasphemous and objectionable” materials from the world’s most popular video sharing site.
And in order to ensure that happens, the new minister is making a sort of blanket threat against Google – clean it up here in Pakistan or face an all-out ban.
According to The Times of India, Anusha Rahman Khan sees the total Google block as a last resort.
“It all depends on our negotiation clout. If they persist with their stance, we can block Google in Pakistan as a last resort as there are many alternative search engines available on the web,” said Khan.
Khan made it clear that she wishes to get started in unblocking YouTube – but certain assurances from Google need to be in place.
“Our ministry is responsible for policy decisions, so it’s our job to ensure reopening of YouTube as soon as possible with thorough screening of objectionable material. I will immediately start work on it after a presentation by ministry officials on Monday…We will pump in extra money if needed and do whatever is in our capacity to bring YouTube back to Pakistan without compromising our ethical values,” Khan told Dawn.
The Pakistani government has had a rocky relationship with YouTube over the past few years. The site was first banned back in 2008 after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority cited a rise in “non-Islamic, objectionable videos.” Shortly after, the ban was lifted when much of the material was removed from YouTube servers.
The site stayed open and accessible in the country until 2010, when Pakistan again blocked YouTube in response to “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.” About a week later, the site was reinstated.
The latest ban has been the most longstanding. Pakistan blocked YouTube back in September of 2012 in response to the controversial YouTube video “Innocence of Muslims,” which depicts the religion’s prophet as a fool and a child-molesting deviant. Google decided not to remove the video from YouTube.
Of course, YouTube isn’t the only site that the Pakistani government has been known to censor. They’ve blocked Twitter in the past, and a few years ago made a sweeping ban on many porn sites.
Khan seems to want to make sure she can assure Google’s compliance before making any sort of decision.
“We cannot face the embarrassment of opening the website and closing it again after protests. We have to ensure that proper filtration system is in place before we open the website,” said Khan.
After some time spent beta testing, in which YouTube gave channel owners a choice to opt-in to the new YouTube One Channel design, the company announced last month that the clock was ticking – everyone would be switched over to the new design on June 5th.
Well, today’s that day. If you hadn’t already switched to the new design, YouTube’s going to switch it for you.
Before today’s mandatory switch, over 100 million channels had chosen to opt-in to the new look. YouTube says that channels using the new design have already seen an increase in subscribers and in total visits. Plus, “20% more page views on their channels because clicks from the YouTube guide go directly to their channel pages instead of to their activity feeds.”
YouTube has these tips for channel owners just getting started with the new design, which features a large header photo, links to other social accounts, and new video categories that reorganize videos in a bunch of different ways:
To get your channel looking it’s best:
Select your channel art. Choose an image that represents your channel. The image should be 2560 px by 1440 px for the best results on all devices. If you plan on designing something special, check out the specs here.
Upload a trailer. Introduce new viewers to all the awesomeness they’ll see from your videos, and encourage them to subscribe to your channel.
Create sections. Select which videos and playlists you want to showcase in the sections on your channel’s browse tab.
Link your channel with a Google+ page or profile. Keeping your branding up-to-date will be even easier because your channel art will represent you across YouTube, Google+, and all Google properties.
One huge benefit to the new design is that your channels will look the same across multiple platforms – iOS, Android, web, and more.
No use in fighting it, it’s here to stay and mandatory for all channels now.
CBS 3 anchor Nicole Brewer and weatherwoman Carol Erickson despise each other – at least that’s what it looks like on camera. YouTube user AmazingLife247 compiled this supercut of some cringeworthy moments between the two Philly newswomen. What you’re about to see may just be among the most catty exchanges between professionals on live TV that you’ll ever see.
Ouch, right? Almost too painful to watch. The rivalry seems legit, but as some YouTube commenters point out – it also seems like it could be two friends making banter for comedy’s sake. The Philly Post has suggested that this may be the case.
Thing is (and I actually think this is quite obvious in the video), it was all taken way out of context. Several folks at CBS tell me that former Miss Pennsylvania Nicole Brewer and Carol Erickson are actually good friends and that this is all part of the ongoing on-air banter between the two.
That was my wife’s reaction to Sunday night’s brutal episode of Game of Thrones, titled “The Rains of Castamere.” In the episode, the famous Red Wedding scene from George R.R. Martin’s beloved novels played out in all its shocking glory.
Even those involved in the show aren’t immune to the shock. Here’s Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark on the show, with her wonderful Vine reaction to the scene.
While you’re here, you might as well check out some of the best YouTube reactions to the episode 9 bloodbath.
On Sunday night’s episode of the HBO series Game of Thrones, well, stuff happened. Things happened and they were devastating. They were beautiful. They were shocking and violent. After it was all over, I was nearly positive that I had witnessed one of the best moments in television history. I don’t smoke, but I needed a cigarette.
If you’re reading this far, you’re probably aware of what happened during episode 9, “The Rains of Castamere.” Oh Robb. Oh Catelyn. Oh Talisa. Oh little Ned Stark. Oh Grey Wind. As the majority of my friends (all who have read the books) joked – The Roose is loose.
Below is a wonderful compilation of about 20 different YouTube reaction videos surrounding last night’s unbelievable episode. The reactions are similar to what you went through, probably. There’s crying, screaming, hiding of heads and plenty of NOOOOOOs, What the f*cks, and Reallys.
This was us at about 9:50 pm EST Sunday night, America. Never forget.
It’s 2013 and we’re still dealing with “outrage” over the depiction of an interracial couple in a Cheerios ad.
Cheerios’ new ad, titled “Just Checking” uses the often-cited claim that the cereal is heart healthy. In the ad, a girl asks her mother if what her dad said is true. Are cheerios actually good for your heart? Her mother confirms that yes, they are. The little girl then runs off and pours a box of Cheerios on her sleeping dad’s chest. Cute. Effective. Controversial?
You see, the mom in the commercial is white and the dad is black. Cue angry internet racists.
Check out the ad:
Shortly after posting, the YouTube comments filled up with racially-charged vitriol. So much so that Cheerios was forced to remove the comments and disable commenting altogether.
@codypermenter thanks for the heads up Cody.They’ve since been removed.
AdWeek says that the comments featured “references to Nazis, ‘troglodytes’ and ‘racial genocide.’” Classy.
You can see more of the hateful comments on reddit, where the video made it high on the r/videos subreddit.
“Fake couple. That lady looks too white to be married to a black man. Cheerios needs to fire their casting agent. Plus….a black man in his childs life?…lol,” says one commenter.
To be fair, there are more comments that praise the ad than ones that deride it. And reddit’s voting system has relegated the racist comments to the bottom of the thread. But this ad is just another reminder that these kind of feelings still exist – and the anonymity of the internet just makes it worse.
Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann will not seek a fifth term in Congress representing the state’s 6th district, as she made an official announcement in YouTube video.
“After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I have decided next year, I will not seek a fifth congressional term to represent the wonderful people of the 6th district of Minnesota. After serious consideration, I am confident that this is the right decision,” she said.
Bachmann also said that in her opinion, the 8-year term limit for the U.S. President makes sense for members of Congress as well. She claims that the decision had nothing to do with concerns about possibly losing her next bid.
“I’ve always in the past defeated candidates that are capable, qualified, and well-funded. And I have every confidence that if I ran, I would again defeat the individual who I defeated last year, who recently announced that he is once again running.”
Bachmann also denies that the decision was influenced by the recent inquiries being made into campaign spending during her failed presidential campaign.
“I fully anticipate the mainstream liberal media to put a detrimental spin on my decision not to seek a fifth term,” she said. “They always seemed to attempt to find a dishonest way to disparage me. But I take being the focus of their attention and disparagement as a true compliment of my public service effectiveness.”
I have prepared a personal video just for you.michelebachmann.com/announcement/t… I wanted to share this important breaking news with you first.
Google announced that YouTube users can now create slow motion (or “slomo”) videos. If you go to the Enhancement tool or the YouTube Editor, you can apply it to one of your existing videos.
“You’ll get a smooth, slomo video that makes it look like it was filmed with a high-speed camera,” a spokesperson for YouTube tells WebProNews.
YouTube developed its slomo technology using frame analysis and blending intermediate frames together, we’re told, giving the video a smooth look like it was filmed in high speed.
Slomo videos are already popular on YouTube. There’s a channel called The Slow Mo Guys, for example, that just focuses on slow motion videos. It has about 2 million subscribers and over 220 million views.
“Anyone who’s seen a slow motion video of a dog drinking water, rubber bands breaking a watermelon, or footballs in faces knows the age-old proverb: slomo makes everything better,” says YouTube software engineer Eron Steger. “What’s the best way to make slomo better? Let everyone make their own slomo video on YouTube.”
Here’s a before/after:
Other tools available in YouTube Editor include audio editing, transitions, cropping, etc.
Viral trends webiste BuzzFeed today announced that it has partnered with CNN and YouTube to launch a new YouTube channel. According to BuzzFeed, a new channel will combine BuzzFeed’s entertainment content and CNN’s news to create new content that will be aimed squarely at engaging young people online.
“There has been a massive cultural shift in how people – particularly young people – consume news and entertainment and Ze and his team are tapping into the next generation of video production and consumption,” said Jon Steinberg, president of BuzzFeed. “Over 70% of BuzzFeed’s traffic is social, almost half is mobile, and we are seeing these huge shifts earlier than others because the majority of our readers are 18-34. We are thrilled to partner with YouTube to bring a new generation of video content to a BuzzFeed audience that lives on social media and mobile phones,”
The new CNN BuzzFeed channel will use CNN archival footage to create mash-up videos. The two organizations will also be collaborating on “list posts,” which will be published on the CNN website.
“By pairing the journalistic strength and reach of the CNN brand with BuzzFeed’s unique editorial approach and young audience, our partnership will enable both organizations to engage new audiences,” said KC Estenson, SVP of CNN Digital. “It’s the perfect modern day media collaboration.”
The new CNN Buzzfeed YouTube channel has only one video so far, a narrated montage of CNN rescue footage:
Viral content site BuzzFeed and CNN have partnered to create a brand new YouTube channel that will see BuzzFeed repurpose CNN content in a more viral fashion. According to The Wall Street Journal, the content will be specifically designed to be shared via social media – something BuzzFeed knows quite a bit about.
The new channel, CNN BuzzFeed, launches today. The initial goal is for BuzzFeed to create about three new videos a week, which will sit alongside other videos from CNN. BuzzFeed, who has already been producing original videos for their multiple YouTube channels, is said to be planning on focusing some videos on serious news issues.
“There has been a massive cultural shift in how people – particularly young people – consume news and entertainment and Ze [Frank] and his team are tapping into the next generation of video production and consumption,” said BuzzFeed president and COO Jon Steinberg.
It’ll be ad-free at the start, but that will eventually change:
“The more agile way to do it is to launch without letting advertising products dictate editorial content,” said Steinberg. “BuzzFeed and CNN will figure out ways to do various ad formats and sponsored content down the road,”
For Buzzfeed, the new partnership means more expansion. The company plans to hire 30 more employees to work in a new L.A. studio.
Here’s the first video on the channel, which is a mashup of famous rescue moments originally broadcast on CNN.
Earlier this week, YouTube turned 8 years old. Feel old, don’t you? Me too. In one way, it’s hard to imagine a world without it, but on the other hand I can still remember when it was just starting to grow in popularity. Ah, to be young again…
In that time, there have been a lot of viral hits. So many that you probably forgot about some of the early ones. Thankfully, there’s now a song based of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to help you remember the past 8 years in viral madness.
Last month, as rumors swirled of a possible run for New York City mayor, former congressman Anthony Weiner rejoined Twitter – the service the led to his downfallback in 2011. He began tweeting out links to a 20-page roadmap for NYC called “Keys to the city,” and it sure looked like the actions of a man gearing up for a comeback.
“…The classic New York story: you work hard, you make it into the middle class, and you make life a little bit better for your kids. That’s how this city was built,” says Weiner.
“But it’s getting harder and harder every day – some of the highest rents in the country…goog jobs with benefits disappearing, our schools aren’t what they should be, and we need to keep this city safe.”
Weiner doesn’t shy away from his past indiscretions:
“Look, I made some big mistakes, and I know I let a lot of people down. But I’ve also learned some tough lessons. I’m running for mayor because I’ve been fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it my entire life. And I hope I get a second chance to work for you.”
According to recent polling, Weiner trails Democratic frontrunner Christine Quinn by a margin of 15% to 25%. That same poll indicated that 49% of people felt the Weiner shouldn’t run for mayor.
You stare at the clock. It hasn’t moved in minutes. You’re starting to get a headache, and you remember that your dog chewed up your favorite pair of shoes last night. It’s only Tuesday and you’re ready for the week to be over.
I know your day is a bummer. I know you need a beer. But here’s something to make you feel better
Zach Sobiech, a Minnesota teen who inspired millions through his battle with a rare bone cancer, has died at the age of 18.
Sobiech battled the terminal cancer, osteosarcoma, from the age of 14. Last year, a song he penned about his illness called “Clouds” went viral on YouTube,
“With heavy hearts, we are saddened to share that Zach Sobiech passed away this morning. Zach was at home and at peace with those he loved most. Zach’s life ended just as he lived, embraced by the love of his family, friends, grace and music,” says The Children’s Cancer Research Fund.
“Cancer may have taken Zach too soon, but he leaves a lasting legacy that most of us will never achieve. His message of love and hope delivered through infectious lyrics and memorable tunes have imprinted on the minds and hearts of millions around the world. Zach became a beacon of light and benevolence in a world that sometimes weighs too heavily. In turn, he received a flood of well-wishes that helped him, and his loved ones, smile through tremendous pain and worry.”
Zach recorded two albums worth of music, which helped raised money for awareness and research for his rare disease. His fight attracted nationwide attention, including that of many celebrities.
If you want to donate to Zach’s cause, you can do so here.
YouTube has now been around for eight years, having launched in May of 2005. Google acquired it the following year.
The company put up a blog post celebrating the landmark, thanking users, and sharing a few stats. The YouTube Team writes:
When YouTube’s site first launched in May 2005, we never could have imagined the endless ways in which you would inspire, inform and entertain us every day.
Today, more than 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s more than four days of video uploaded each minute! Every month, more than 1 billion people come to YouTube to access news, answer questions and have a little fun. That’s almost one out of every two people on the Internet.
They also mention that millions of partners are creating content for YouTube.
There are certainly plenty of things on the horizon for the site. It recently introduced YouTube Subscriptions, where users can subscribe to channels starting at $0.99 per month, which could be the beginning of something much bigger for YouTube.
This cover of Radiohead’s 15 Step appeared on YouTube back in January, but got some extra attention today when a fan page for frontman Thom Yorke shared it with fans.
Luckily for the video’s creator, IAmAhYell, those who are simply fans of Radiohead on Facebook also get to see it, thanks to a Facebook feature that says things like, “Thom Yorke is posting about a Page you like: Radiohead.”
Radiohead has over ten million fans. It should be a good day for IAmAhYell’s YouTube views.
If you’ve spent some time on YouTube recently, you may have noticed that not every channel you land on looks the same. Some channels sport a new look that features a large header photo, social links, and a new design that reorganizes videos by category.
This new design is called the YouTube One Channel, and YouTube has had it in beta for some time now. In that time, over 100 million channels have opted-in to the new look. But for all of you holdouts, your days with the old channel format are numbered. YouTube has just announced that all channels with be automatically and permanently moved to the new One Channel design by June 5th.
“Channels that have already made the switch are experiencing several benefits. Their branding shines through in more places because Channel Art is visible on iOS apps, Android apps and TV. For the channels that have opted in, we’ve seen 20% more page views on their channels because clicks from the YouTube guide go directly to their channel pages instead of to their activity feeds,” says YouTube
Here’s what the new channels look like:
Compare that to the old channels, which will no longer exist come June 5th:
Of course, if you’re a channel owner and you’re just now hearing about this – you can choose to opt-in early here.
And speaking of YouTube and channels, the company just expanded live streaming to any and all channels with 1000+ subscribers.
Google kicked off its annual developers conference, Google I/O, on Wednesday, with a keynote lasting nearly four hours. It’s always expected that Google will make a bunch of announcements at these events, and they certainly did. This year’s hasn’t been the sexiest Google I/O full of new gadgets and big new services, but it has focused a great deal on developers, and isn’t that supposed to be the point anyway?
We’re not going to get into all the announcements here. You can follow this page to see all of that. I do, however, want to draw attention to some of the things Google has announced that have implications specifically for businesses. It’s worth noting that a lot of Google’s announcements came in blog posts, rather than in the keynote.
Maps
One of the biggest announcements to come out the event was a complete overhaul of Google Maps. This was expected thanks to a leak last week, and then another one earlier this week, but it is still a huge deal, as Google Maps is one of the company’s most popular products. It also plays a major role in how people find businesses using Google from the desktop, tablets, and from mobile devices. Google actually announced revamps for each of these devices as well.
The new Google Maps for Android smartphones and iPhones is coming this summer, and will include a new Zagat experience, with Zagat badges appearing in the interface, as well as Google Offers integration. If you find Starbucks, for example, you can see an offer from them, and save it for later or use it.
There is also a new five point rating scale across Google Maps for mobile and desktop.
With the new tablet interface, Google will point users to businesses and destinations by categories with a new discovery feature called “Explore”.
With the new desktop Maps experience, Google highlights things it thinks matter to users. “And the more you interact with the map, the better it gets,” says Google. “When you set your Home and Work locations, star favorite places, write reviews and share with friends, Google Maps will build even more useful maps with recommendations for places you might enjoy.”
“In addition to a customized map, we’ve also made it easier to uncover the best local gems,” the company says. “Search results are labeled directly on the map with brief place descriptions and icons that highlight business categories and other useful information – like restaurants that are recommended by your Google+ friends. Info cards provide helpful information such as business hours, and ratings and reviews so you can quickly decide where to eat, drink and play.”
The interface also allows people to zoom in right into indoor imagery, where available.
Changes to how Google does search are always of interest to businesses, because it’s the top way people find them. There’s not necessarily a lot in the way of SEO news coming out of Google I/O (though there was certainly plenty from Matt Cutts earlier this week), but you should still be aware of the search announcements that were made.
The biggest thing is that Google is bringing the conversational search that Android and iOS users have been enjoying to the desktop via Chrome. Soon, users will simply be able to talk to Google when they want to know something, and Google will talk back. Google SVP Amit Singhal discusses this on the Inside Search Blog:
People communicate with each other by conversation, not by typing keywords — and we’ve been hard at work to make Google understand and answer your questions more like people do. Already, you can tap a mic, talk to Google in a more natural way and get responses spoken back to you on Android, iPhone, and iPad devices.
Today, we previewed what this conversational experience will look like in Chrome on your desktops and laptops. Soon, you’ll be able to just say, hands-free, “OK Google, will it be sunny in Santa Cruz this weekend?” and get a spoken answer. Then, you’ll be able to continue the conversation and just follow up with “how far is it from here?” if you care about the drive or “how about Monterey?” if you want to check weather somewhere else, and get Google to tell you the answer.
He also announced improvements to Google’s Knowledge Graph, including newly supported languages, and the ability to provide answers to what it thinks will be your next questions.
Singhal explains, “You’ll also get smarter answers to questions like ‘what’s the population of Canada?’ Not only will Google answer that question, but you also get an answer to the next few follow-up questions people often ask. In a single card, you’ll see how Canada’s population changed over time — and a comparison with California and Australia.”
Finally, Google Now got some new cards, and the ability for users to set reminders. More on all of this here.
While not part of the Google I/O announcements, Matt Cutts also made another announcement via Twitter. He said, “It’s safe to assume webspam will continue to tackle link networks that violate” Google’s quality guidelines, and that they just took action on thousands of linkselers in a “paid-link-that-passes-PageRank” network.
YouTube Gets New Ecommerce Feature
Also not part of the keynote announcements, Google announced a feature for YouTube, which could prove to be a pretty big deal in ecommerce. They’re now letting businesses include “Buy Now” buttons on their YouTube channels, so users can purchase products through various retailers.
“Every day, millions of people turn to YouTube for advice, from learning how to do the perfect smokey eye to trying out a new recipe for mashed potatoes,” says Danielle Tomassini from the Google Shopper team. “People are using YouTube not just for entertainment, but to learn a new skill, find more information, and shop for products. This presents a unique opportunity for consumer goods brands to reach shoppers in the moment and provide them with an easy way to go from watching a video to purchasing the product.”
The new offering comes in the form of a new channel gadget, and lets users shop for products from various retailers from the comfort of the YouTube channel they’re already browsing.
“This new channel gadget will enable shoppers to seamlessly move from browsing how-to videos and featured products to finding which retailers carry them, check availability, compare prices and make a purchase, all with fewer clicks than today,” says Tomassini.
Google has launched the gadget with Unilever to highlight hair products from TRESemmé.
Curiously, the offering is not part of the Google Shopping ecosystem Google has created, but rather utilizes GloTo.
There are a lot of interesting things happening with Google Wallet.
For one, there’s a new API that could have a huge impact on converting mobile sales. According to Google, 97% of mobile shoppers abandon their shopping carts. This is mostly due to all of the hoops they have to go through to complete the process (like filling out big forms). The Instant Buy API makes the process much faster and easier.
“The Instant Buy API is designed for merchants and developers selling physical goods and services, who already have a payment processor and are looking to simplify the checkout experience for their customers,” says Prakash Hariramani, Senior Product Manager for Google Wallet. “Developers selling digital goods within their apps will continue to use Google Play In-app Billing, which offers full payment processing capability, including support for carrier billing and gift cards.”
And speaking of Gmail, Google is adding quick actions to let people RSVP, check-in and leave reviews right from their inboxes. Buttons will appear next to certain types of messages, and people can take actions without even having to open the email. Businesses can add custom actions to their emails.
Google announced the Google Wallet Objects API to let businesses connect loyalty programs, offers, etc. to Google Wallet.
“Consumers want access to all of their loyalty cards, offers, and more on their smartphone,” says Group Product Manager Pali Bhat. “An average household has 18 loyalty cards but use less than half of these cards regularly because of the inconvenience. And the same goes for tickets, membership cards and other items.”
Users will be able to save loyalty programs, offers, etc. directly to their Google Wallet, and businesses will be able to showcase their brands, acquire users and engage them through instant loyalty sign-up, real time updates and offers.
“With Google’s location services, your users get timely notifications about their saved Wallet objects,” notes Bhat. “Additionally, with a simple upgrade path to Google Offers, you can distribute your offers across Google properties — including Adwords, the Google Display Network and Google Maps for Mobile — and benefit from Google’s targeting capabilities.”
They also announced that more phones – Samsung Galaxy S4 (Sprint), HTC One (Sprint) & Samsung Galaxy Note II (Sprint & US Cellular) – get the Google Wallet app.
Google+
Google+ has received a total of 41 new features, and a general redesign, and it could present some new opportunities and challenges in getting your content seen in Google’s growing social network. Included is a multi-column layout, bigger media, new animations, and a “related hashtags” feature:
“Suppose, for example, that you’re reading about your favorite sports team,” says Google SVP Vic Gundotra. “We’ll look at the post, determine what it’s about, and tag it accordingly. Behind the scenes, we’ll also identify and rank relevant conversations across the network. When you click on the related hashtag, we’ll flip the card, and let you browse related content inline.”
It looks like Google+ optimization could get more complex (as it certainly has with rival Facebook, not to mention Google’s crown jewel – search). More on the rest of the features here.
Google Cloud Platform
Google made some announcements about its Cloud Platform, including making Google Compute Engine available to all businesses and developers. It comes with sub-hour billing charges for instances in one-minute increments with a ten-minute minimum, so you don’t pay for minutes you don’t use.
“Shared-core instances provide smaller instance shapes for low-intensity workloads,” says Google’s Urs Hölzle. “Shared-core instances provide smaller instance shapes for low-intensity workloads. Advanced Routing features help you create gateways and VPN servers, and enable you to build applications that span your local network and Google’s cloud. Large persistent disks support up to 10 terabytes per volume, which translates to 10X the industry standard.”
This is really all just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to new stuff Google has in store, but these are some of the things businesses should be paying attention to. Of course, it really depends on what type of business you run. Android developers have a ton of new stuff to dig into that we didn’t even mention here, for example.
Which new Google offering (if any) do you think will have the greatest impact on your business? Tell us in the comments.
Google has sent a cease and disist letter to Microsoft for building a native YouTube app for Windows Phone 8, and violating its terms of service in three areas.
In the letter, Google explains, “It appears that the application: (1) allows users to download videos from YouTube; (2) prevents the display of advertisements in YouTube video playbacks; and (3) plays videos that our partners have restricted from playback on certain platforms (e.g. mobile devices with limited feature sets). These features directly harm our content creators and clearly violate our Terms of Service.”
Microsoft has responded to the situation. The Verge quotes a spokesperson as saying: “We’d be more than happy to include advertising but need Google to provide us access to the necessary APIs. In light of Larry Page’s comments today calling for more interoperability and less negativity, we look forward to solving this matter together for our mutual customers.”
You can hear Page’s comments near the end of the Google I/O keynote here.
Google has so far given Microsoft until May 22nd to remove the app. It launched last week.
Google is now letting businesses use YouTube to sell products. Businesses have been using YouTube to market products almost as long as YouTube has been around (at least since businesses figured it out that it could be about more than cat videos), and for quite some time, businesses have been able to advertise through clickable ads inside of YouTube videos.
Now, Google is taking the YouTube ecommerce thing to a whole new level by essentially letting users shop for products right through the business’ YouTube channel.
“Every day, millions of people turn to YouTube for advice, from learning how to do the perfect smokey eye to trying out a new recipe for mashed potatoes,” says Danielle Tomassini from the Google Shopper team. “People are using YouTube not just for entertainment, but to learn a new skill, find more information, and shop for products. This presents a unique opportunity for consumer goods brands to reach shoppers in the moment and provide them with an easy way to go from watching a video to purchasing the product.”
The new offering comes in the form of a new channel gadget, and lets users shop for products from various retailers from the comfort of the YouTube channel they’re already browsing.
“This new channel gadget will enable shoppers to seamlessly move from browsing how-to videos and featured products to finding which retailers carry them, check availability, compare prices and make a purchase, all with fewer clicks than today,” says Tomassini.
Google has launched the gadget with Unilever to highlight hair products from TRESemmé.
“There is a growing interest for ‘hair how to’ videos on YouTube with millions of users going to YouTube to learn about hairstyles and hair care,” says Tomassini. “By providing hair tutorial videos, tips and tricks, and interviews with trendsetters, TRESemmé has already generated more than 2.7 million views on their channel. Through their newly designed channel, TRESemmé can also now connect these consumers with the products they’re watching in the demo videos in a faster more efficient way, shortening the shopping journey.”
You can see the feature in action at the TRESemmé YouTube channel.
As you can see, this includes not only a “Buy Now” button, but product reviews and a “Learn More” button, which enables the business to share details about the product, to hopefully help convince customers to buy it:
When the user clicks “Buy Now,” they’re presented with the option to select the products they want to purchase. While TRESemmé only has a single product highlighted here, one can only assume that businesses can include more. It’s unclear what the limit on this might be.
From there, users can comparison shop from stores that have the product available, and see if it is in stock. When they click on one of the stores, they’re taken to the product page on that store’s site.
It’s interesting that Google isn’t tying this into Google Shopping (otherwise, you wouldn’t be seeing Amazon there). That doesn’t mean they won’t in the future.
Google is actually offering the gadget as a premium offering for its consumer goods clients, produced through GloTo.
So far, Google isn’t making it incredibly easy to just go and set one of these channels up. Right now, you have to speak with a Google representative to determine “if the shopper channels is the right solution for your brand”.
The feature could play a major role in turning YouTube into a major driver of ecommerce. However, there are some things greatly holding it back. One is the aforementioned lack of Google Shopping integration, but another major factor is that it requires users to actually be on a channel page. How much YouTube viewing do you do from the channel page? If your’e like me, probably not a whole lot.
People consumer videos from their YouTube homepage stream, when they’re shared via social media, and when they’re embedded on other web pages. None of these scenarios will cater to sales through this new feature (unless ads pointing to to the channel as the landing page are placed within the videos).
But this could just be a starting point, and could grow into something much bigger.
Back in April of 2011, YouTube launched YouTube Live, which offered live streaming capabilities to a select number of partners. Today, they’re announcing a massive expansion of the program which will allow tons of new channels to live stream content as they wish.
Starting today, all YouTube channels in good standing (you know, following the YouTube Community Guidelines) with over 1,000 subscribers are eligible for live streaming. If you want to know if you are eligible, simply check your account features page. If you’re eligible, you’ll see an “enable” button and there you’ll be able to sign up. YouTube says that live streaming capabilities will officially come to these channels in the following weeks.
Here’s what YouTube has to say about what content creators will get with the YouTube Live expansion:
YouTube Live allows you to offer your audience a great viewing experience, with great streaming quality and instant scalability and reliability. Here are some key features:
You get real-time transcoding in the cloud, so you only need to send us your highest quality stream and we make it instantly available in all resolutions and device formats
You can show multiple camera angles, add closed captions, and insert ads and slates
Viewers can watch the live stream from any device, get the best quality constantly adjusting to their Internet connection, and can skip back and forth in the live stream
