YouTube launched 8 years ago today, and they are celebrating their eighth birthday! The growth of YouTube has been significant over these short eight years. Now, every minute, over a 100 hours of video are uploaded. Google acquired YouTube back on October 9, 2006 for $1.65 billion. Back then, that was the largest acquisition Google ever made. Since then, Google has only made two acquisitions larger than that purchase price: DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in 2007 and Motorola for $12.5 billion in 2011. YouTube is one of the most searched properties, a top video consumption site and has m [...]

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Microsoft and Google are involved in a battle over the YouTube app for Windows Phones, and Microsoft has followed a cease-and-desist letter from Google by questioning Google's commitment to interoperability and working together. As The Verge reported today, Google sent Microsoft a cease-and-desist letter demanding that Microsoft remove the YouTube app from its Windows Phone Store because Microsoft's version of the app doesn't include Google's ads. Microsoft has responded today in a statement shared with Marketing Land that says Google hasn't given Microsoft access to the necessary APIs t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google | Google: Business Issues | Google: YouTube | Legal: General | Microsoft | Microsoft: Business Issues | Microsoft: Windows Phone | Top News

Last night, some users who were conducting searches on YouTube were seeing a red banner at the top of the search results that said they were part of an "experiment." What the experiment was and what YouTube was testing were unclear. Truth is it seems like there was no experiment, that the banner was a display bug with YouTube's search interface. The banner read: Experiment: There may be confidential content in your search results. Please do not share outside Google. This looks like what Google employees would see, as a reminder for them to not take screen shots and post them on Google [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube

YouTube officially launched its anticipated pilot program for paid subscription channels. The program debuts with 53 paid channels and subscription fees starting as low as $0.99 per month. All channels have a 14-day free trial with. And all are ad-free. Users subscribe to the channels from a computer, and then have access to their paid channels on their smartphones, tablets and TVs. YouTube says the ability to subscribe from mobile and other devices will come soon. Early content partners include UFC, Comedy.TV and National Geographic Kids. Jim Henson Family TV has both an English and [...]

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

Is Google simply trying to create a better user experience on the iPhone and iPad or is it trying to "colonize" iOS with its apps? It all depends on your point of view -- though, it's probably a bit of both. When the new Gmail app for iOS was released May 6, immediately, inflammatory headlines appeared, suggesting that Google was "taking over the iPhone." However, that's not exactly the case. Users of the new Gmail app have the (default) option to go directly to the native versions of YouTube and Google Maps, as well as open Chrome via links in email. Previously, such links would have op [...]

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YouTube could launch subscription-based channels as early as this week, according to The Financial Times. The subscription model will give Google's video sharing site a new revenue stream and support premium video content production. The subscription-based channels, first reported on back in January, will compete with other online premium subscription services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. The Financial Times reports YouTube will unveil as many as 50 subscription-based channels with subscription fees as low as $1.99 a month. YouTube, which surpassed one billion unique monthly users in [...]

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

Yahoo's unique video viewers rose to 50.3 million, up from 43.6 million in February, bumping the company up a rung to the  number four U.S. Online Video Content Property according to comScore's March 2013 US Online Video Rankings, In March, the number of Americans watching online content videos rose 2.5% from February. Nearly 182.5 million Americans watched 39.3 billion online content videos. Ad video views hit an all-time high at 13.2 billion, up from 9.9 billion in February. Yahoo moved up a rung to number four and closed in on VEVO this month. (It will be interesting to watch what impac [...]

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To borrow a famous quote from Yogi Berra: It's like deja vu all over again. YouTube beat Viacom again today in the long-running copyright battle the two have waged, and Viacom is again saying that it plans to appeal the ruling. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news and has posted the court's decision, too. In today's ruling, Judge Louis Stanton -- who also ruled in YouTube's favor back in 2010 -- wrote that "the burden of showing that YouTube knew or was aware of the specific infringements of the works in the suit cannot be shifted to YouTube to disprove." That's a fundamental concept of [...]

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Google AdSense announced that they have started calculating and reporting on earnings from YouTube slightly differently. Starting April 1, 2013, AdSense will no longer calculate and report AdSense for Content Host earnings for YouTube partners. Instead, AdSense earnings from YouTube videos will only be calculated by YouTube and displayed in YouTube Analytics. Prior to this month, there were two systems calculating earnings from the two sources of YouTube ad earnings -- the AdSense system for earnings from ads sold through AdSense (auction-sold ads) and the YouTube system for earnings from ad [...]

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Google Universal Search is a way that Google blends in matches from its "vertical" or "specialty" search engines, like image search or video search, into webpage results. What's the best way to tap into Universal Search in order to be visible? Have video content, especially on YouTube, according to a new study. The study, by Searchmetrics, is covered in more detail by our sister-site Search Engine Land. Searchmetrics also produced an infographic summarizing the key findings (click to enlarge): As you can see, video content is far more likely to be blended into the search results than [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Search | Google: SEO | Google: Shopping | Google: YouTube | Video

Eight years ago, Google purchased the upcoming video sharing website YouTube from Steven Chen and Chad Hurley for $1.65 billion dollars. The growth of the video sharing site has continued with the announcement that YouTube has eclipsed the one billion unique-monthly-user mark this week. What's so impressive is that this number is unique YouTube users, not unique visits -- an account is required to count toward this value. Marketers have taken to 'Tube as well. According to Google, all of the AdAge Top 100 brands are running campaigns on YouTube. On the official Google blog post, the fol [...]

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The "Harlem Shake" is the dance/song sweeping the nation -- and now YouTube. The popular dance features a song titled "Harlem Shake" by Bauer that features tame music that has a quick switch of tempo when the beat drops. In the Harlem Shake videos, it's customary to have one person (possibly masked) dancing with everyone else in the scene not paying attention. When the bass hits and the beat drops everyone in the scene begins to dance (and dress) crazily. When you head to YouTube and do a search for "Do The Harlem Shake" you'll activate an easter egg. At first, the YouTube symbol begins [...]

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

There were several reports from late last week indicating that Google is negotiating with major labels in anticipation of the launch of Spotify-like music streaming service. As part of these negotiations, according to the LA Times, "Google is proposing a premium subscription service" on YouTube that would encompass music videos and perhaps audio-only songs. The suggested launch window is fall 2013. A well-executed streaming capability would potentially threaten smaller services such as Spotify or MOG. Apple is also rumored to be preparing a streaming Internet radio competitor to Pand [...]

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YouTube is reportedly planning a move that will boost its own revenue, while simultaneously giving brands and video producers another way to make money. According to an AdAge report this morning, YouTube is planning to launch subscription-based channels and it could happen as soon as this spring. YouTube has reached out to a small group of channel producers and asked them to submit applications to create channels that users would have to pay to access. As of now it appears that the first paid channels will cost somewhere between $1 and $5 a month, two of these people said. In addition to e [...]

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YouTube announced they have updated the iOS app they launched a couple months ago in response to Apple dropping the native YouTube app. The update brings the much requested iPad user interface support to the app, it also gives iPhone 5 users support as well. So it fills the full iPad screen as well as the full iPhone 5 taller screen. Other features include: Stream videos with AirPlay Tap logo to open your Guide of channels Add and remove videos from your playlists Clickable links in video descriptions Improved accessibility with VoiceOver You can download the app or update th [...]

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From the it's so crazy it just might work department: YouTube launched roughly 100 original content channels a year ago hoping to transform itself from a repository of short-form clips into a bona fide cable TV alternative with all the brand advertising revenue that implies. Today YouTube is announcing an expansion of that effort (60 more channels), for Europe and beyond: From local cuisine, health and wellness and parenting to sports, music, comedy, animation and news, this new lineup of original channels will have something for everyone. They are backed by some of the biggest producers, wel [...]

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

Google today launched a new form of expandable display ad that it calls a "Lightbox ad" -- it begins as a standard display ad, but expands to a super-sized image after a two-second hover -- long enough, the company says, to eliminate nearly all accidental expansions. Marketers pay when users interact with the ad, rather than when they click through. The company calls it "smart hover," and says this type of expandable increases engagement by 6 to 8 times over click-to-expand ads. When the ad expands, it appears in the middle of the screen and dims the rest of the page behind it. The p [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Display Advertising | Google: Display Advertising | Google: YouTube | Top News

The White House reportedly requested that Google reconsider its decision to keep up the controversial video of Mohammed that sparked protests, and a deadly attack on the US Embassy in Libya, in the United States. But the search giant, which owns and operates YouTube, declined, though it has already taken down the video in Libya, Egypt, Indonesia and India -- where it says the video's content violates local laws. it remains available elsewhere. The video, titled "The Innocence of Muslims," depicts the Prophet Mohammed as a philanderer and fraud, deeply offending followers of the Muslim relig [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: YouTube

Google has launched a new iOS YouTube app, that is now available in the App Store as a free download by clicking here. The announcement of a new YouTube app prior to the release of iOS 6 later this month, is not unexpected. As you may know, Apple decided to drop the YouTube App as a default app on iOS 6 going forward. In order to ensure users have an app, Google pushed out an iPhone and iPod Touch version of the YouTube app last night. Note, there is no "universal," iPad version available yet - but I expect that to come soon. One should also note that YouTube works nicely as mobile web s [...]

Related Topics: Apple: iOS | Channel: Video | Google: Mobile | Google: YouTube | Top News

Google is shutting down its TV Ads initiative, begun in 2007, which allowed AdWords advertisers to buy television ads via the AdWords interface and auction model. The company distributed video ads nationally in the US via its partners Bloomberg, DISH Network, DIRECTV, CBS College Sports, Cox Media and Verizon FiOS, among others. But Google is quick to note that this doesn't mean it's giving up on video ads, just that it's focusing on interactive forms on laptops, smartphones and tablets. "The future of video advertising is extremely bright and we’re excited to devote ourselves fully to it [...]

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