May 9, 2011 at 6:22pm ET by Pamela Parker

Google's YouTube today announced plans to add around 3,000 movies for on-demand rental on its service, effectively declaring its intention to compete with Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. While YouTube has largely been known for quirky independent fare, the new content will include well-known flicks from major studios, including classics like Caddyshack and new releases like Inception and The King's Speech. The new content will be available at youtube.com/movies beginning today, and more titles will be rolled out in coming weeks. Within the movie section, users can search solely for movies, or se [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube & Video | Top News

Google Challenges Apple, Netflix, Hulu with Video Rentals Service

Apr 26, 2011 at 11:32am ET by Greg Sterling

Google is about to launch a premium video on demand service through YouTube that will directly challenge iTunes, Netflix, Hulu and even cable TV. In the past YouTube tested video rentals (and has continued to do so) but the titles were limited and the results have been muted. The new service appears to be called "YouTube Store." At right is a cached image (taken from the link). The new YouTube movie rental service might start as soon as next week according to reports. It apparently will offer films from several of the major Hollywood studios and a number of independent distributors. Para [...]

Google Tells Video Users To Move Over To YouTube

Apr 18, 2011 at 10:11am ET by Greg Sterling

Many outlets, starting with Allan Stern at CenterNetworks, reported over the weekend that Google Video is finally doing away with hosting. Two years ago the service stopped allowing new video uploads but said it would continue to host videos that had already been uploaded to the system. No longer. Everything must be downloaded and moved to YouTube. However you've got less than a month (until May 13) to download any videos from Google Video. The following is from the letter that went out to Google Video users: Later this month, hosted video content on Google Video will no longer be avai [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube & Video

YouTube Users Not Thrilled With New Copyright School

Apr 15, 2011 at 1:41am ET by Matt McGee

Google (and YouTube before it was bought) has taken a variety of steps over the years to educate its users on copyright issues and discipline them when the message doesn't get through. The latest of those is being called Copyright School; it's a combination video and quiz that YouTube will force offenders to watch and pass before they'll be allowed to upload more content. How's the video going over so far with YouTube users? Like a lead balloon. As of this moment, "dislikes" are outnumbering "likes" by almost 4-to-1. There's no way to tell if they're rejecting the entire notion [...]

After 4-Month Slide, YouTube Regains Viewers & Sessions

Apr 12, 2011 at 8:22pm ET by Matt McGee

After a four-month slide in both unique viewers and video viewing sessions, YouTube rebounded in March to post gains in both of those categories. That's according to the latest stats from comScore, just released this afternoon. YouTube remains far and away the dominant video site online, with big leads in both viewers and sessions over second-place AOL and the rest of the sites on comScore's latest survey. But these numbers are actually a reversal for YouTube. Since passing the two billion session threshold in October, YouTube has seen those numbers decline each month through Februar [...]

YouTube Is The Real “Google TV”

Apr 7, 2011 at 10:26am ET by Greg Sterling

Google TV, the company's much-hyped "Connected TV" effort that brought together Sony, Logitech and Dish Networks, has failed to deliver on its promise -- at least so far. While sales figures haven't been released the public isn't biting, it would appear. Google TV (the product) may ultimately join the ranks of Google Wave as an ambitious failure. However it's still a bit premature to call it that. Regardless the news yesterday that YouTube is planning to spend $100 million or more on new and original content and that it will lease almost 14,000 square feet of new office space in Beverly [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: TV | Google: YouTube & Video

YouTube Plans Push Into Original Content: WSJ

Apr 7, 2011 at 8:03am ET by Matt McGee

It may have sounded a bit silly a few months ago when Italy announced it would regulate YouTube like a TV station, but now there's this: According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is planning to spend upwards of $100 million on professionally-produced, original videos. The WSJ cites "people familiar with the matter," who say the push for original content is part of a "major overhaul" of YouTube -- one that will make the site more friendly for the convergence of web video and living room TV viewing. For years, Google has been positioning itself as more than just an amateur video depot. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube & Video

YouTube Expands Search Filters & Related Terms

Apr 6, 2011 at 12:20pm ET by Barry Schwartz

YouTube has updated their search filters and search refinements today. The new YouTube search enhancements include: (1) Filtering helps you restrict your search based on specific categories. You can choose any of the Filter options above to refine your search. (2) Exploring allows you to replace or add topics to your search. Clicking on a suggestion will replace your original search. Hovering over the suggestions and clicking the + sign that appears on the right will add the topic to your original search. (3) You can also Explore in the same way using the topics listed above. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube & Video

Google Wants TV Show Owners To Start Tagging Video

Mar 24, 2011 at 7:34pm ET by Matt McGee

Google is encouraging TV show owners/providers to begin tagging their online videos with several new fields that can be used in both video sitemaps and mRSS feeds. The new fields include specific data for identifying the show/series title, season and episode numbers, premiere date and more. Google's blog post explains and shows the correct code in more detail. Interestingly, that blog post also begins by saying the new fields should be used "if your website is the authoritative source for the video of a particular TV show." But there's nothing stopping other sites that post unofficial TV [...]

YouTube Down, But Still Dominates Online Video; Netflix Owns Movie Watching

Mar 17, 2011 at 3:08pm ET by Matt McGee

Video watching was down on YouTube during February, but it still holds a seemingly unsurmountable lead in viewers, video views, and time spent per viewer. According to the latest comScore video stats, which cover February 2010, Google sites -- i.e., primarily YouTube -- saw a 2.1% drop in unique viewers 4.3% drop in viewing sessions 7.7% drop in minutes per viewer But YouTube is still exponentially more popular than all the other sites on comScore's list, including Microsoft, which rose from No. 7 in January to No. 2 in February. Meanwhile, earlier this week a different [...]

Google Adds Video Instant Previews To Some Results

Mar 14, 2011 at 10:39am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google has added a new type of instant previews to the Google search results. The new previews are designed specifically for video results. The video instant previews show you several frames from a video and may even play the video preview when you mouse over the thumbnail image. I should not, not all video results have instant previews, the video providers have to opt to show these previews. How Instant Video Previews Work: (1) Search Google or Google Video search and look for a video result. (2) Mouse over or click on the magnifying glass preview icon. (3) A drop down of 4 f [...]

Google Uses Amazon’s Algorithm For YouTube’s Recommendation Engine

Feb 2, 2011 at 9:53am ET by Barry Schwartz

Greg Linden reports that Google has switched the algorithm they use for YouTube's recommendation engine from their own to a variation of Amazon's algorithm that was designed in the late 90s. This is an interesting move being that Google has the man power and smarts to build a fairly good recommendation on their own. But here they opt to use an algorithm designed by Amazon in 1998? Of course, the best algorithms are enhancements on top of previous algorithms. Google's own algorithm is light-years beyond where they first were with their original PageRank patent. Here is a relevant snippe [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube & Video

Search & The 2011 Sundance Film Festival

Jan 19, 2011 at 2:37pm ET by Elisabeth Osmeloski

The annual Sundance Film Festival is about to converge here in Utah January 20-30, 2011, with Bing.com and YouTube as Leadership Sponsors. Bing is the official search engine of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival website, and YouTube has two special channels for the event, the main Sundance Film Fest channel, and the YouTube Screening Room, featuring 12 short films from this year's festival, which will only be available on YouTube until February 3. Bing Continues To Cozy Up To Hollywood Earlier today, the Bing Entertainment team announced earlier a special new video site: BingSundance.com [...]

Google Links To Competitors Next To YouTube Videos

Jan 17, 2011 at 2:21am ET by Matt McGee

Google has begun showing links to different video sites and search engines in its search results. The links appear next to YouTube videos -- but only on music-related searches. On a search for u2, for example, Google shows three videos from YouTube, but each video listing now includes additional links that might otherwise have only shown up further down the page or on deeper pages. In the example above, the outbound links point to a mix of video-specific sites (Dailymotion, Metacafe) and search engines (Yahoo, Yandex). In a late Friday blog post, Google explained where the links com [...]

Italy To Regulate YouTube & Other Video Sites Like TV Stations

Jan 3, 2011 at 4:16pm ET by Greg Sterling

YouTube, and parent Google, are now to be considered TV broadcasters in Italy according to new rules handed down by the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM). The rules apply equally to other sites providing video content over the internet provided they're also running advertising. According to a translated version of an article appearing in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the rules impose the following burdens and obligations on YouTube and other online video providers: A €500 tax (under $700) A restriction content on inappropriate for children being shown during certain ti [...]

YouTube Releases Top Videos & Searches For 2010

Dec 13, 2010 at 10:00am ET by Barry Schwartz

YouTube has announced their top watched videos and top search queries. The top watch videos are broken out by major label music videos and excluding major label music videos. First the top search queries: January - haiti February - luge March - eclipse trailer April - ipad May - eminem not afraid June - shakira waka waka July - double rainbow August - bed intruder September - halo reach October - whip my hair November - firework Top Watched videos excluding major label music videos: BED INTRUDER SONG!!! (now on iTunes) TIK TOK KESHA Parody: Glitter Puke - Key of [...]

Viacom To Appeal YouTube Lawsuit Loss

Dec 3, 2010 at 12:54am ET by Matt McGee

As expected, Viacom is planning to appeal its loss in a long-running copyright case against YouTube/Google. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Viacom may file its appeal as soon as tomorrow (Friday). Viacom sued YouTube in early 2007, claiming copyright infringement because YouTube users had posted thousands of clips from Viacom-owned programs. The case reached its first "conclusion" when Google/YouTube won a summary judgment this past June -- the judge ruling that the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act protects Google from copyright claims over the activity of its users. A Goo [...]

YouTube Passes 2 Billion Viewing Sessions; Hulu Shows 1.1 Billion Video Ads

Nov 15, 2010 at 5:51pm ET by Matt McGee

Impressive numbers related to video viewing and ad impressions today: According to the latest comScore statistics, YouTube passed the two billion session threshold in October and Hulu showed more than a billion video ads. For the month, YouTube ("Google sites" below) saw an increase in both unique viewers and in viewing sessions. It's the first time YouTube has passed two billion sessions in a month. While Hulu may be at the bottom of that chart (based on unique viewers), it's the top video site when it comes to ad impressions. comScore says Hulu showed a record 1.1 billion video ad [...]

YouTube Topic Search Offers Way To “Explore” Related Videos

Nov 9, 2010 at 3:15pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Around 6pm tomorrowPacific Time, YouTube will be making YouTube Topic Search available through its TestTube "labs" area. The new feature allows people to easily explore videos by topic. I got a demo of this about three weeks ago, and it's pretty cool. For example, you can search for videos and then narrow them down into areas such as "LOL" to find those that are especially funny. The screenshot below, which YouTube sent me, give you a flavor for the new feature: Since it's not actually live, I can't do further screenshots that show how when you select one of the Explore topics, yo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube & Video

Playing With YouTube Leanback On Google TV: Nice!

Oct 16, 2010 at 1:32am ET by Danny Sullivan

Today at YouTube, I had a chance to play briefly with YouTube Leanback, best described as a way to channel surf YouTube on your regular TV. It was pretty cool. Here's my quick impressions and a short video of it in action. I tested out Leanback on one of the new Sony televisions that are equipped with Google TV. The Google TV-capable Sonys go on sale tomorrow online through the Sony web site, and YouTube has spruced up Leanback in anticipation of this. Leanback is a core part of Google TV. It's meant to bring YouTube to your television seemlessly. Leanback allows you to easily flip throu [...]

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