YouTube wants to be YourTube (except for the branding and ads, of course)
As smart and innovative a company as Google is, one of its shrewdest strategies comes straight from Tom Sawyer — to the extent possible, get someone else to do the work for you. Google supplies the tools — blogs, maps or whatever — and encourages the public to generate content and traffic, then monetizes those contributions with ad sales. Now to the list of tools Google generously shares, you can add YouTube. The popular video site announced today that it is becoming a platform as well as a destination.
YouTube is turning loose an improved application programming interface that will let third parties “integrate YouTube content and community into other websites, desktop applications, video games, mobile devices, televisions, cameras, and lots more.” The tools allow for third-party video hosting and management through YouTube — uploading, editing of metadata, display of tailored feeds through customized embedded players and such — and the service is free. YouTube said, for instance, that Electronic Arts much-anticipated game “Spore” will let players capture video of their creature creations. And come later this year, TiVo owners will be able to directly access YouTube video through their DVRs (be still my heart). But the big target is all those individuals, sites and businesses that have some interest in providing video, but haven’t wanted to shell out for the services of a white-label hosting service like Brightcove or Maven.
This is not, of course, a pure gesture of generosity from YouTube and Google. Every video uploaded via third-party sources also expands the YouTube library. Even in customized players, the videos will still carry an overlay of the YouTube logo. Users won’t be able to monetize the videos with their own ads, but YouTube will be able to serve ads itself if it chooses. “With this launch we’re not announcing or introducing any new ways of monetizing new videos on YouTube,” said YouTube product manager Jim Patterson.
Steve Rubel says the move is yet one more sign that the future of the Web is not in sites, but services.
interesting to see Google continue in their strategic pursuit of advertising and search revenue growth. while doing so, i simply wish they would improve gmail’s contact manager so that i would at least be at parity with yahoo mail’s and maybe, maybe even position itself to be a viable alternative to the oncoming Outlook Live.
I think it would be really good if Google would let us use gmail without having YouTube. Of course, gmail is free otherwise, so I don’t complain *too* loudly.