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]

ABC News Opens YouTube Channel

ABC News is launching its own branded channel on YouTube, featuring programming from, among others, Good Morning America and Nightline.

Showcasing short-form news content, the ABC News Channel on YouTube will include breaking stories as they happen and highlights from interviews with newsmakers. Programming from shows such as World News with Charles Gibson, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 20/20 and Primetime will also be available.

Additionally, the channel will host Quick Fix, a web-exclusive program from ABCNews.com.

[via WorldScreen]

McDonald's Rolls With YouTube For McCafe Launch

McDonald's is launching an all-out ad blitz for its new line of McCafe premium coffees?and one of the first places you'll see the branding is on YouTube. paidContent reports.

YouTube Product Manager Zal Bilimoria spins it as a major coup, since it will be McDonald's first rich-media buy on YouTube. (McDonald's previously ran video ads on the homepage?but it wasn't for a high-profile product launch).

The fast food giant joins ABC, Electronic Arts and Volvo as brands that have taken a chance on YouTube's larger, flashier ad units; Volvo tested another unit, the "expandable masthead"?it incorporated photos, videos and a Twitter feed, no less?which YouTube is also offering up to advertisers across the board.

Princes join Bond on YouTube film

Princes Charles, William and Harry are to star with James Bond star Daniel Craig in a YouTube film promoting environmental protection. The BBC reports.

The 90-second film for the Prince's Rainforest Project also features the Dalai Lama, actor Harrison Ford, singer Joss Stone and footballer Pele.

The film which will go out on several websites shows William and Harry urging the planet to be saved "for all of us".

Above: HRH The Prince of Wales launches the PRP's new global awareness campaign with a webcast to the online social network community and introduces the premiere of the PRP's new campaign video.

YouTube: Placement Police

In recent months, YouTube has set off some jangled nerves among several of its more popular content producers, writes Mediaweek.

The company issued written notifications to several producers who have inked branded integration deals directly with advertisers, gently reminding them that according to its Terms of Service, users are not to post commercial videos on YouTube without permission.

The subtle implication is that YouTube could yank down these users’ videos if it so chose. But the bigger issue is that the Google-owned video giant needs to monetize as much of its content as possible. And as more brands engage in the practice of paying popular video bloggers to integrate their products into videos—rather than purchasing advertising on YouTube—Google needs to find a way to balance its revenue needs with keeping its most prolific talent happy. Officials said the company will soon announce a new formalized process for branded integration videos.

Read full article.

Top YouTube Videos of All Time

Visible Measures, the online video tracking platform, has just published their list of the most watched viral videos of all time.

In their own words: Since Susan Boyle's recent viral video triumph (has it only been three weeks?), we've been inundated with requests for a listing of the most watched viral videos of all time. The questions come in part because people are eager to understand Susan's position in the pantheon of viral video history, but also because the numbers involved have exceeded many people's expectations regarding the potential cultural impact of online video.

Susan Boyle comes in the number five spot with 186,000,000 million views in the less than a month.

Number one? Crank Dat music video by Soldier Boy (above): Not available for viewing in Switzerland though as well as number 3: Touch My Body music video by Mariah Carey.

[via Mashable who has posted the top 13 videos]

Related to blocked content:

-- YouTube Blocks Music Videos in Germany

-- British YouTube Blocks ‘Premium’ Music Videos

Luc Besson's film coming to YouTube for World Environment Day

Luc Besson's and Yann-Arthus Betrand's 90 minute full-length film, Home, will exclusively be available online on YouTube for English, French, Spanish and German–speaking countries beginning June 5 — just in time for the 37th World Environment Day.

[via YouTube Blog]

YouTube and Partners Miss Out on Boyle Bonanza

Susan Boyle, the latest overnight YouTube sensation, may well end up the recipient of a bonanza from her new status as unlikely heroine. Bits Blog reports.

But for now, her dizzying YouTube success has been a missed opportunity to cash in. A disagreement between YouTube and Britain’s ITV, which owns the “Britain’s Got Talent” program where Ms. Boyle appeared, has kept the YouTube clips of Ms. Boyle’s rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” free of ads.

The Times of London published what it called a “crude estimate” suggesting that the parties involved, namely YouTube, Simon Cowell and ITV, have left $1.87 million on the table. That’s based on 75 million streams of the various clips of Ms. Boyle, which the newspaper estimated could get $20 to $35 for every 1,000 views in the United States and more than that in Britain.

Read full article.

YouTube Real Time

Google began testing a new feature called YouTube RealTime that lets you and your friends share in the moment what you're doing with the site. News.com reports.

"This is building on the success of the YouTube friend activity feed, letting people see what their friends are watching, rating, commenting on, etc.," Google said about the feature, which the company plans to start offering to invitees.

TechCrunch gave it a spin. Read their review.

YouTube's legal end-run irks Korean officials

Google's advice on sidestepping a South Korean law against anonymous YouTube video postings and comments doesn't seem to be sitting well with some of the country's authorities. Cnet news reports.

Google, citing free-speech concerns, on Monday said it will comply with the Korean law--but by prohibiting uploads and comments rather than by requiring people to verify their identities. And it told people they could work around the constraint by visiting another country's version of the video-sharing site.

Now the backlash is beginning to set in, according to one Korean media report.

Susan Boyle follows Paul Potts

Unemployed and never been kissed 47-year-old Susan Boyle has become an Internet and world news phenomenon following her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream on Britain's Got Talent show.

But one writer is sceptical and so am I. Michael Musto for The Village Voice believes the jury's performance was basically staged. He wirtes:

One of the week's most clicked clips was that of Susan Boyle, the 47-year-old frump who rocked out on Britain's Got Talent and wowed the smirks off the skeptical judges' faces. But as someone who knows about the inner workings of TV, can I just say how phony the whole thing came off? In fact, the only shock in the whole thing for me is that people are taking it at face value!

I agree and find the story a repeat of an earlier contestant Paul Potts who worked for a mobile phone store and became the winner of the first series of ITV's Britain's Got Talent in 2007, singing an operatic aria. Only in his case, the audience and jury's emotions seemed real.

Full length TV streams and movies on YouTube

YouTube, the Internet's largest video site on Thursday announced that it has struck deals with a host of entertainment companies, including Sony Pictures, CBS (parent company of CNET News), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lionsgate, Starz, and the BBC, to acquire "thousands" of TV episodes and hundreds of films. The new content will only be available in the United States.

[via News.com]

Punk'd! Local pranks go national thanks to YouTube

Forget toilet paper and a neighbor's tree—YouTube has become the new home for pranks, but once those pranks gain national exposure, they don't always turn out to be so funny. Case in point: a video showing Domino's Pizza employees fake-farting on the salami. Ars Technica reports.

North Carolina residents "Kristy" and "Michael" have been fired from their jobs after posting the video, which they say was simply a prank—no salami was actually farted upon. The video was uploaded to YouTube, where it promptly gained 750,000 views and forced Domino's to issue an official statement saying that it is "appalled by the actions of these individuals."

While the video was mildly humorous, the YouTube comments were not. They degenerated quickly into name-calling ("hillbillies") and claims that the woman in the video is a sex offender, complete with her alleged address and full name.

Real full article.

The YouTube Presidency

A wonderful article from The New York Times on why the Obama administration uploads so much video.

... Playing well online is not simply a function of offline charisma. Unlike playing well on cable or on late-night talk shows, it takes not only performance skills but also an extensive personal production team.

Having recognized the power of YouTube during the presidential campaign, when the BarackObamadotcom account uploaded more than 1,800 videos to the site, Obama now maintains an entire staff devoted to new media.

Making your own videos pays off. Where a YouTube search for “George Bush” turns up mostly parody, TV news clips and gotchas (“George Bush idiot,” “George Bush shoe attack”), a comparable search for “Barack Obama” is stacked with videos approved and uploaded by the campaign or the administration.

... Every one of the president’s weekly public-address videos is conspicuously labeled “public domain,” and commentary is welcome.

... When past politicians have been praised for their “use” of media, they’re often seen as having deftly orchestrated an advantageous relationship with the press — having somehow won them over, as democratic politicians might generally aim to do. Obama’s team, in producing and distributing more video (by far) than any past administration, has not so much won over political journalists as led the pack to become the new media on the White House beat. Does that strike anyone as unsettling?

Read full article.

YouTube Orchestra Announces Program Carnegie Hall Concert

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra, comprised of over 90 players from more than 30 countries were selected through auditions posted on YouTube, has announced the program line-up for its concert at Carnegie Hall in New York on April 15.

[via Broadway World]

Previously:

-- YouTube seeks classical musicians

-- YouTube Symphony Orchestra Winners Are Announced!

Drug cartel videos on YouTube

The violence among Mexican drug cartels has spread to YouTube, according to USA Today.

The videos on YouTube and Mexican-based sites are polished — professional singers croon about cartel leaders while images of murdered victims fade one into the next. In the comment area, those loyal to the opposing cartels trade insults and threats.

Such videos are used to intimidate enemies and recruit members by touting "virtues" of cartel leaders, says Scott Stewart, vice president of tactical intelligence for Stratfor, a Texas-based global-intelligence company.

Read full article.

YouTube Sensation Fred Passes 1M Subscribers

Fred, the hyper active teenager who's a YouTube sensation and who sounds like he's inhaled a helium balloon, has just surpassed 1 million subscribers.

[via The New York Times]

Does YouTube actually make any money?

New figures suggest that the video website may be on course to lose nearly half a billion dollars this year. The Guardian reports.

While parent company Google has to divulge certain financial details thanks to its publicly-traded status, it remains highly secretive about the numbers produced by its individual business units.

That's where Spencer Wang, an analyst with Credit Suisse, steps in. By Wang's estimates, the video site is due to lose $470m this year – an incredible amount for a website that Google bought for $1.65bn just two and a half years ago.

The problem as he sees it? An inability to sell advertising on most of its pages, coupled with a huge number of users watching a vast amount of video online.

Sony, YouTube in talks to license films

Sony Pictures may be in talks with YouTube to license some of its films—in their full-length glory—to the popular video sharing site. If so, it could be among the first studios to do so on YouTube. If true, the move will allow YouTube to better compete with the content NBC-owned Hulu, which already streams a wide variety of full-length movies and TV shows.

Read full article in arstechnica.

YouTube Blocks Music Videos in Germany

As of Wednesday, Google will no longer allow users with German IP addresses to watch music videos on YouTube, after negotiations between the music industry and Google over compensation for copyright holders broke down.

[via Wired]

YouTube Down Again in China

YouTube is once again inaccessible in China, after briefly reappearing on Monday, reports WSJ Digits.

Google spokesman Scott Rubin said he doesn’t know why the site is down again. “We’re working to resolve it and restore access to our users in China,” he said.

Disney Will Make Short Videos Available on YouTube

Walt Disney Television became the latest media company to make a distribution deal with YouTube on Monday, saying that it would share short-form content with the world’s largest video Web site.

[via The New York Times]

Higher Education for All

YouTube has announced the launch of YouTube EDU, a hub for videos from over 100 of our leading university and college partners. Think campus tours, news about cutting-edge research, and lectures by professors and world-renowned thought leaders. There are also 200 full (and free!) courses, in a range of subjects, from some of the world's most prestigious universities, including IIT/IISc, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Yale.

There are over 20,000 videos on YouTube EDU and growing.

[via YouTube Blog]

Special YouTube Ads Earn Nonprofit $10,000 In A Single Day

Earlier this week YouTube launched a new feature for non-profit organizations called “Call to Action”, allowing these organizations to place special overlay ads on their videos free of charge. TechCrunch reports.

These overlays can direct viewers to the non-profits’ homepage, where users can elect to donate money, sign up for mailing lists, and interact with other members in the community. And unlike typical ads on YouTube (which video uploaders don’t generally have control over), non-profits can specifiy exactly which page they’d like to redirect to.

To pilot test the feature, YouTube placed a video supporting charity:water on its homepage last Sunday, featuring an overlay encouraging YouTube users to donate money to the cause. In that one day, charity:water received a whopping $10,000 from YouTube viewers. Granted, the fact that the video was featured on the homepage clearly had a huge impact on the turnout, but the success of the new Call-to-Action ads is likely going to be a boon for many non-profits.

China 'blocks YouTube video site'

China is reported to have blocked the YouTube video-sharing website because it has been carrying video of soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans, reports BBC.

The date and location of the footage, posted by a Tibetan exile group, cannot be ascertained.

On Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said that China "is not afraid of the internet". However, he was unable to confirm if YouTube had been blocked.

Google Boosts Video Analytics on YouTube

To what was a very basic tool, Google has added such features as the ability to take a look at the YouTube community's comments and ratings about a video and to drill down on feedback to a particular country or region in the world. [via Intelligent Enterprise]

The first iteration ofYouTube Insight, launched about a year ago, was a "very, very basic product," providing statistics on the number of views per day, where those viewers are in the world, and how a video compares in popularity to other videos in a given time period.

The new features, launched last week, go a step or two further by taking a look at the YouTube community's comments and ratings about a video, providing the ability to drill down on feedback to a particular country or region in the world. Insight also provides the ability to see traffic from sites outside of YouTube that have embedded video in pages.

Sesame Street explains the Madoff Scandal

The Madoff Scandal explained on Sesame Street.

[via CNBC]

College Credit via YouTube

A computer science professor at an Australian University is doing something revolutionary with YouTube - he's offering students who can't attend his classes college credit for watching his videos. ReadWrite Web reports.

Richard Buckland, a senior lecturer at the University of NSW in Sydney, Australia, was frustrated that high school students with a passion for computing and capable of studying at the college level were not able to make the commute to the university fit into their school day. Buckland then decided to turn YouTube into a remote classroom where the students could attend lectures virtually and then complete coursework just as his other students do.

Although several universities today use YouTube as a repository for lectures posted by college professors, they are generally offered as supplementary material for their enrolled students - the videos offer a handy way to go back and review previous classes.