Google to Caption YouTube Videos

In the first major step toward making millions of videos on YouTube accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired people, Google unveiled new technologies on Thursday that will automatically bring text captions to many videos on the site. The New York Times reports.

While the technology can only insert captions on English language speech, Google is giving users the choice to use its automatic translation system to read the captions in 51 languages.

Read full article.

YouTube launches channel for citizen journalists

YouTube has just launched YouTube Direct, whereby TV and online news editors can obtain video from so-called "citizen journalists" -- and even request such video be shot by amateurs seeking attention. [via Reuters]

News outlets seeking footage can announce it in a variety of ways, including via call-out videos posted at YouTube. When a YouTube user has video they think will interest the mainstream media, it can make it easy for editors, producers and journalists to contact them.

Testing the service now are Huffington Post, NPR, Politico, the San Francisco Chronicle and a couple of Boston TV stations.

YouTube to begin streaming in 1080p

YouTube has announced it will begin upgrading HD streams to 1080p from the current 720p, offering support for video playback in Full HD.

[via afterdawn]

Offshore tax dodgers are being warned by UK taxman

The (UK) taxman is making his first appearance on YouTube today in an attempt to increase pressure on savers who have not declared their offshore accounts.

According to the Times Online, this is the first time that HMRC has used social media to communicate with the public. Previously it has run television campaigns to encourage people to file their tax returns on time and to collect their tax credits.

Google seeks to turn a profit from YouTube copyright clashes

Google is is working to persuade music and video companies to cash in rather than clamp down when their content is uploaded on YouTube. The Guardian reports.

... First developed two years ago, the ContentID system is attracting record labels, TV producers and sports rights owners keen to make more money from the web.

Google's computers compare all the material uploaded to YouTube – around 20 hours every minute – against "ID files" from a 100,000-hour library of reference material from the rights holders. The system creates reports of what is viewed where and how often.

Read full article.

NYC Election Documentary released on YouTube

Award-winning filmmaker Raul Barcelona is releasing his critically acclaimed film, The Promise of New York, on YouTube in hopes of inspiring New York City voters to participate in the upcoming general election on November 3rd.

The film can be seen in its entirety on the YouTube channel The Promise of New York beginning Tuesday, October 27th, 2009, exactly one week before Election Day. The film is also currently available on DVD from the film's website.

Press release.

YouTube to Livestream U2 Gig

YouTube announced plans this week to livestream a concert by rock legends, U2. The gig is occurring on October 25th at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Users will be able to stream the concert in 16 different countries, including the US, UK, India, and Australia.

[via AppScout]

YouTube Launches Comment Search

Real-time comment search is now available on YouTube.

According to ReadWriteWeb,

There are some very real, potential use-cases crying out for a tool like this. Companies in particular are likely to want to know what people are saying about their names in the comments on YouTube. You name your topic, though: it's now available for real-time search across viewer discussion.

YouTube video claims government role in Russian hedge fund scam

Thousands of Russians are watching a YouTube video that accuses their government and officials of high corruption. The Guardian reports.

A Russian version of a video by Hermitage Capital, the London-based hedge fund claiming to be victim of a $230m scam, has attracted over 12,000 hits, and is the most viewed news clip on YouTube in Russia, the site shows. The English version has over 10,000 viewings as of this posting.

William Browder, head of Hermitage Capital, hopes the video's international impact will put pressure on the Russian authorities to listen to his claims of theft, gangsterism and government corruption.

Taliban open YouTube Channel

A little late to the game, the Taliban have just opened their very own official YouTube channel, Istiqlal Media.

While the group has used YouTube in an official capacity before, placing video of captured America soldier on the site, the use of embedded YouTube video on their site is a first, according to terrorist media expert and internet sleuth Evan Kohlman of Global Terror Alert and the NEFA Foundation.img alt="quotesmarksleft.jpg" src="http://www.textually.org/tex

[via Wired]

YouTube videos viewed 1 billion times a day

According to YouTube CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley, YouTube videos are viewed 1 billion times a day. The Mercury News reports.

Three years after the acquisition, our platform and our business continue to grow and evolve," Hurley wrote Friday on YouTube's official blog. "We are still committed to the same principles that informed the site early on, but we know things have changed."

Hurley said short, user-created clips are still "voraciously consumed" on YouTube, but added, "As we've started to see demand for longer, full-length content, we've brought more shows and movies to the site."

Nobel Prize Announcements: Watch Videos on YouTube

Today through October 12, Nobel Prizes will be announced on the Nobel Prize YouTube Channel in real time.

Watch the live web cast from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, on Tuesday, October 6, 11:45 a.m. CET, 09:45 a.m. GMT at the earliest. Following the announcement, an interview will be held with one of the Committee members about the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics.

[WebPro News]

Warner Music Videos Heading Back to YouTube

Ending a nine-month standoff, YouTube said on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with the Warner Music Group that would return the label’s music videos to the video Web site.

Warner Music had demanded that its videos be removed last December after licensing talks stalled with YouTube, a unit of Google. The deal means YouTube has agreements in place with the country’s four major record labels and four major publishers.

[via The New York Times]

Anne Frank channel launched on YouTube

A channel for Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who died in a Second World War Nazi concentration camp, has been launched on YouTube. The Telegraph reports.

The site contains existing and new images, including the only known video footage of Anne - a shot a few seconds-long of her leaning out of an upstairs window during the wedding of a neighbour in July 1941.

It also includes an interview with her father, Otto Frank, a preview of the new virtual museum of the Anne Frank House, and a series of interviews with people who knew the girl, YouTube and the Anne Frank House announced.

'Poetic' autism film divides campaigners

"I have no interest in right or wrong… I will plot to rob you of your children and your dreams."

These words come from a short film called I Am Autism, which has sparked a spat between people with autism across the US and a charity that aims to represent them.

An amazing and moving film.

[via NewScientist]

Warner Inks Deal to Bring Green Day, Madonna, U2 Back to YouTube

Warner Music Group has completed a deal with YouTube that will bring back music videos for Green Day, U2, Madonna and other artists to the video-sharing site from which they were removed in December, according to two executives familiar with the talks.

[via Adage]

Sand Artist Becomes YouTube Sensation

The Internet has a new star, and she plays with sand. CBSNews reports.

Actually, "play" is too dismissive a term to describe what Kseniya Simonova (left) does.

A "sand artist," she recently demonstrated her gift on the TV competition "Ukraine's Got Talent," winning the top prize. A video of her performance has since received more than two million hits on YouTube.

As described by Ian Johnston in London's Telegraph, Simonova, 24, draws pictures in sand on top of a light table, the images (projected onto a large screen) depicting the effects of the Nazi Invasion.

With a soundtrack of period songs and bombs bursting, Simonova's 8 1/2-minute animated display shows ordinary people suffering the deprivations of war.

It moved the audience to tears, and won Simonova the top prize, approximately $120,000.

Coming soon: Finding your friends on YouTube

According to Google's YouTube Blog, YouTube will soon be making it even easier for you to find people you know on the site. A "You may know these people" suggestions box will be introduced on the homepage over the next few weeks that shows you the YouTube channels of people who might be your acquaintances, and lets you easily connect and subscribe to them.

Read more.

'Pure' Islamic alternative to YouTube launched

In a move to preserve religious and moral values in cyberspace, a group of unidentified Saudis have launched a "clean" Islamic alternative to the leading video-sharing site YouTube. The Los Angeles Times reports.

It's called NaqaTube.

Naqa means "pure" in Arabic. The website offers a collection of edited and Islamically "clean" clips from YouTube under the banner, “Participate with us in a clean website."

Site administrators censor video clips that express critical views of the government, Islamic scholars and members of the Saudi royal family.

In keeping with Saudi Arabia's strict religious and moral codes, music videos and clips featuring women are also banned. Any music videos on NaqaTube must adhere to Islamic rules.

YouTube Signs Deal with UK Musicians

After more than nine months of bitter wrangling, YouTube has agreed a licensing deal with British songwriters that will see thousands of music videos return to the online video site.

Business Week reports that YouTube has secured an agreement with the PRS for Music, the body that collects royalties on behalf of songwriters, composers and music publishers, over the size of the royalties for every video viewed.

The companies declined to reveal the terms of the deal, but it emerged YouTube has agreed to pay a lump sum as part of the agreement.

Read full article.

Kremlin Launches YouTube Channel

The Kremlin launched a new website and YouTube Channel Tuesday.

The video leading the new channel is an address from Medvedev to students, one of just four videos on the page so far but the Kremlin plans to continually update the Web site with Medvedev's direct addresses to the country as well as snippets of his speeches.

[via ABCNews]

Videos of homeless beatings spike on YouTube

Videos of homeless people being beaten or forced into humiliating acts are increasingly popular online, leading some US lawmakers to seek harsher penalties for hate crimes against the poor, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Deeply disturbing:

In July, nearly 86,000 degrading videos of homeless people were posted on YouTube --- 15,000 more than a year earlier -- according to an NCH count.

No less than 5700 of the posts -- 1400 more than in April 2008 -- showed self-proclaimed "bum fights". In these the homeless were pushed to battle each other in return for a pack of beer or a few dollars but also to the amusement of those shooting the videos or watching them.

Homeless Man Beaten on Tape Dies (AP/YouTube)

YouTube launches online store

YouTube Blog announces the launch of a new online store where you can buy YouTube branded items, like caps, t-shirts, fleece jackets, socks and a few items for babies.

Couple's wedding entrance dance becomes YouTube viral hit

Kevin Heinz and Jill Peterson, the wedding couple filmed dancing down the aisle, has become a YouTube sensation.

The video has already turned the couple, from St Paul, Minnesota, into celebrities in the United States with appearances on network television. It has already been viewed 6.6m times.

[via The Telegraph]

YouTube Now Lets You Share Insight Stats

YouTube is now letting video owners share stats from its analytics tool YouTube Insights, reports Search Engine Journal.

This includes stats on total views, number of ratings and other metrics that show how video contents are used on YouTube.

Whereas before, important stats such as video popularity, geographic audience and viewer demographics about YouTube videos are visible only to their owners through
YouTube Insight now users will be give the option to make their video stats open to the public eyes or to remain in private viewing status.

YouTube hits: Daning Evian Babies and Singer's airline tune

Two videos on YouTube which are making a splash: One is a huge PR success for Evian and the other a PR nightmare for United Airlines.

Evian’s Dancing Babies. Read WSJ write up.

After breaking his guitar, an angry United Airlines passenger/musician gets even by writing a song and posting it on YouTube where it's a hit. A PR nightmare for the airline who plans on mending their ways. According to the BBC, "United Airlines said the musician's song would be used for internal customer service training."

How can YouTube survive?

It's wildly popular - and thought to be losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Now questions are being asked about the future of YouTube. Rhodri Marsden investigates a mystery of digital-age 'freeconomics' for London's Independent.

... YouTube's lack of profitability other than as part of a colossal global multinational may signal the end of a dream that has somehow managed to extend past the bursting of the dotcom bubble back in 2001, and the options for new online ventures seem to be as follows: either produce something that people are willing to pay for, or come up with an idea for a free service that's so ingenious that a benevolent multinational is willing to take it off your hands. But remember: that trick of making a home video of yourself in front of a few elephants has already been done.

[via Mediabistro]

Google News Opens the Floodgates to YouTube Publishers

Last month, Google News began including videos from a variety of news organizations, such that some stories on the aggregator now include related videos from YouTube that are embedded side-by-side with links to news articles. Mashable reports.

Now, any news organization that is included in Google News can get their videos included by way of YouTube’s Partner Program. Considering there are now more than 25,000 sources contributing to Google News, this opens the door for both Google News and YouTube to become massive sources for video news.

YouTube launches Reporters' Center to help you report the News

YouTube is helping the enormous community of citizen reporters on YouTube with a new resource to help them learn more about how to report the news.

YouTube Reporters' Center features some of the nation's top journalists sharing instructional videos with tips and advice for better reporting.

In their own words:

Learn how to prepare for an interview from CBS News' Katie Couric; how to be an investigative reporter from the legendary Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, or why it's important for citizens to participate in the news-gathering process from Arianna Huffington.

And definitely don't miss out on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's video on how to report from a crisis area without getting shot.

In addition, you can also learn practical and ethical tips, like how to fact check your stories, avoid breaking the law while reporting, and adhere to journalistic principles.

[via YouTube Blog]

Michael Jackson Flashmob tributes

In Paris, London, Vienna and New York, hundreds gathered to pay homage to Michael Jackson. All theses videos on YouTube are titled Mass Moonwalk, but it's mostly music. In most videos the crowd is focusing their cameraphones on something we can't see, probably someone moonwalking.

YouTube Mobile Uploads Up 400% Since iPhone 3GS Launch

YouTube reports that in the six days since the iPhone 3GS was released last week, the number of mobile uploads has increased by a whopping 400%. For a single phone model to have such a major impact on the site is simply phenomenal. [via TechCrunch]

Even without the iPhone, YouTube is seeing major growth across the entire mobile space — the site has seen uploads go up 1700% over the last six months. It’s not hard to guess why. Video-enabled smartphones are becoming increasingly popular, as are high speed data connections.

YouTube also attributes part of the growth to a streamlined upload flow (note how easy it is to upload a video from your iPhone to the site), as well as its improved sharing capabilities (you can now syndicate your videos to services like Facebook and Twitter).

Make Videos for Nonprofits Via YouTube Video Volunteer

YouTube is appealing to your inner filmmaker in an effort to get the word out about certain charitable organizations. AppScout reports.

The Google-owned video site on Monday launched YouTube Video Volunteer, a "service 2.0" program that will partner YouTube users with nonprofit organizations that need help producing promotional videos.

Video Volunteers is YouTube's version of a new platform that Google has launched called All for Good, which helps match citizens with volunteer opportunities in their local communities.

Built in partnership with the White House, All for Good is sort of like a Craigslist for community service. But you don't just have to show up at your local soup kitchen or animal shelter to give back -- volunteering in the 21st century can be done entirely online.

[via YouTube Blog]

YouTube Diplomacy and Iran

A must read article from Andrew Rosen, for The Huffington Post on the asscending technological revolution happening in Iran.

In the past three months, the Administration has begun to pursue "YouTube Diplomacy" and has appeared to lay down three cornerstones to commit its policy here.

Excerpts would not do this piece justice. Read full article.

Citizentube blog launches to support YouTube channel

Google has announced that YouTube has gone live with a new blog to support its Citizentube video channel. Pocket-Lint reports.

Citizentube is described as a "special YouTube blog devoted to chronicling the way that people are using video to change the world".

In a blog post, YouTube says: "If you've followed news and politics on YouTube, you might have noticed that we started Citizentube as a video channel on the site a few years back, but we soon realized that keeping track of all the phenomenal uses of YouTube by posting our own videos just wasn't fast enough".

The blog will focus on two types of posts, the political and social uses of YouTube and its own programming initiatives and partnerships in the political, news, and nonprofit arenas.

Claiming to provide users with a "filter" that you can use to see "the way that video is changing our world", the blog can be found at www.citizentube.com and on Twitter too - Twitter.com/citizentube.

[via Official Google Blog]

New YouTube feature lets you share with Facebook, Twitter...

YouTube has just enabled a new feature that allows users to directly share their recently uploaded videos to Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader. This means you’ll be able to syndicate your newly uploaded content directly into your friends’ feeds. You can link your accounts on YouTube’s ‘Upload’ page. The new functionality is limited to new video uploads for now.

[via TechCrunch]

YouTube To Premiere Movie Simultaneous To Theater Release

YouTube will premiere Luc Besson’s latest movie, Home, the first simultaneous Internet and theater debut, as the video-sharing site looks to Hollywood to goose its ad sales and reach profitability, reports Bloomberg.

Watch the trailer.

YouTube now has the equivalent of 90,000 full-length films uploaded in one week, or 15 hours of content added every minute.

YouTube making jump to TV screens

Google's video service is rolling out a new browser feature, called YouTube XL, designed to present YouTube videos on big screens, company managers said Tuesday, reports News.com.

During a demonstration before a handful of media, YouTube showed how XL is designed for people who have hooked up their TVs to their laptops or video game consoles, such as Xbox 360 or Sony PlayStation 3.

How does it differ from YouTube's typical Web page?

It's a much more stripped down player. There are no scroll bars or viewer comments. There's little more than a search field and video thumbnails to help direct users. YouTube XL will work with any Web-connected device and on any browser.

The new feature is another sign that the battle in online video now is being waged in the living room.

Read full article.

YouTube looking at standalone 'SafeTube' site for families

According to The Guardian, YouTube is exploring the introduction of a family-friendly 'SafeTube' version of the site as part of its programme of improving safety and content standards, it said today.

Launching a new safety center that gives advice on bullying, links to support organizations, dealing with abusive commenters and inappropriate content.

The new safety center appears in the site links at the bottom of every YouTube page, and has yet to be integrated more fully throughout the site. But one option could be 'SafeTube', a fully opt-in family version of the site that would automatically exclude age-restricted videos and delete or disguise expletives.

YouTube: 20 Hours of Video Uploaded Every Minute!

In mid-2007, six hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute. Then it grew to eight hours per minute, then 10, then 13. In January of this year, it became 15 hours of video uploaded every minute, the equivalent of Hollywood releasing over 86,000 new full-length movies into theaters each week.

Now, 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.

[via YouTube's official blog]

YouTube in talks to offer full versions of British-owned shows

With news emerging that Hulu, the American free online video-on-demand service backed by News Corp, NBC Universal and Disney, is in similar negotiations and gearing up for a September British launch, the race is on to dominate British online TV market. The Telegraph reports.

According to a senior TV executive close to the negotiations, The Telegraph understands that any deal ITV or Channel 4 could strike with YouTube, would not be mutually exclusive, allowing both parties’ content to be broadcast across the two online platforms.

Currently Google-owned YouTube officially only shows clips of these stations’ content.

... Additionally CBS-owned TV.com, which offers a rival VoD service to Hulu in America, is also said to be competing in similar negotiations.

Read full article.

YouTube Ordered to Pay $1.6M to ASCAP

A district judge has ordered YouTube to pay $1.61 million in royalties to U.S. songwriters, and $70,000 per month going forward. Techdirt reports via NewTeeVee.

Songwriters, like everyone else, want a piece of YouTube; for instance the co-writer of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” recently claimed he’s been exploited by the “rickrolling” phenomenon, only earning £11 from Google for his trouble.

The particulars of the fee are only temporary as YouTube and ASCAP go to trial over blanket licenses for ASCAP’s songs in a case brought last May.

YouTube in TIME's 'top tech failures

Time has published a feature on the '10 biggest tech failures of the last decade' and has included YouTube in the list. TechRadar reports.

Adding the world's most popular video-upload site as one of the major tech flops of the last 10 years is something of a surprise, but the feature points to the website's lack of financial success as one of the reasons it has been included.

"Credit Suisse estimated that YouTube will lose $470 million this year primarily due to the costs of the storage and bandwidth required to run the website.

"The same analyst said that YouTube will bring in $240 million this year, but that is only up 20% from 2008. If this analysis is even close to correct, YouTube would have to triple its revenue to break even."

The damning diatribe concludes with: "YouTube is big, but that has not made it a success."

Other tech travesties included on the list are the original Palm Pilot, the Segway and, unsurprisingly, HD DVD.

Google News adds YouTube news videos

Google News is now integrating YouTube news videos into its front-page results. YouTube icons now appear next to video results under the aggregated news topic. Nearly 14 million unique visitors access Google News monthly, according to Compete.com, so providing this video discovery mechanism to such a large audience could boost YouTube's views even more.

[via FierceOnline Video]

World Red Cross Red on YouTube

Today is World Red Cross Day and the commemoration marks over 60 years of the Red Cross preparing communities for emergencies and providing disaster relief to those in need. Over the past few years, the organization has been using YouTube to help achieve these objectives.

For example, the British Red Cross posted this nine-video how-to series about first aid. The videos cover everything from how to perform CPR to how to treat a burn. Not to be outdone, the American Red Cross has just uploaded sixteen very pertinent videos all about swine flu, including information about how it spreads and how to prevent infection.

Read full post in YouTube Blog.

NASA astronaut will tweet, take YouTube questions ... live from space

In a YouTube video posted today, NASA astronaut Mark Polansky said that during his crew's mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for June, he plans to both issue Twitter updates and take questions from YouTube users -- questions that he will answer live from space.

[via The LA Times Blog]