Posted by
samzenpus
on from the this-bread-brought-to-you-by dept.
_14k4 writes "Video website YouTube is to feature advertising for the first time, after Google revealed it is offering companies the chance to run ads on some of the site's most popular content." I can't wait to sit through a dozen commercials while I try to waste some free time.
Did anyone really expect
by
ironwill96
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
them to spend 1.65 BILLION dollars on something if they didn't have a revenue source in mind? The existing business model of YouTube was...oh wait, there wasn't actually a business model unless selling to some bigger company counts.
-- "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - Tennyson
Yay, another thing I have to click on to get the video? Like when their stupid menu decides to minimize the showing video. I really really really HATE using my mouse, its the source of carpel tunnel syndrome and it pisses me off when a website forces me to shift to mouse.
Sounds good to me.
by
SocialEngineer
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
No waiting to watch the video, and has some nice features to it. While I'm sure most people would say "BOO!" to advertising, Google has made itself known as someone who cares about targeted advertising. I myself have found a number of retailers through Google's contextual advertising which I have patronized.
I guess most people have become disenfranchised with the dubious nature of national adverts for weight loss pills and whatnot, which is understandable. Publishing companies that allow such advertising into their products are doing their customers a disservice, as well as the industry. Look at what it has brought us - the necessity for ad blocking on the web, TiVO, etc.. Who knows if those of us in the publishing industry will ever be able to regain the trust of our consumers (I work in the newspaper industry).
-- "Better to be vulgar than non-existent" -Bev Henson
Ah, I miss the web 1.0 days
by
SmallFurryCreature
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Advertising to pay for everything. Offcourse in a way it does, youtube has been paid for by advertising already although the ads so far have been on other sites. In the end however it was Google that bought it and presumably paid those who had been paying for the massive amounts of bandwidth.
Overlays on video off 10 seconds, 15 seconds after the video started, at the bottom of the screen.
Mmm, what to say about that, something that sounds thoughtful, intresting and will garner me the praise of the internet.
Oh I know:
YUCK
Do NOT want!
I seen something like this before on a torrented becker episode, after commerical breaks (Fellow europeans, if you ever complained about ads in the EU, just watch an american show with the commericals left in. You will be hugging you commericial channels advertising staff before the show is out) it showed some ad that popped some weird cartoon dude up to sell something. God knows what it was for but taking up 50% of the screen was kinda annoying.
While this may astound yanks, the bottom of the screen has its uses for subtitles. So basically subs are out while the ad plays?
I can well understand googles desire to get some revenue going, I am currently watching old columbo eps on youtube all for free except my ISP fee and whatever google has to pay to upload several gigs of data.
But I hate ads. It is not just that they get in the way, it is not just that 99% of them insult the intelligence of a republican, it is not that 99% of them are irrelevant to me (jay leno site shows me clips for american companies while I am in holland, even the best ad is not going to get me to fly to the US to buy something), that they cost me bandwidth, that the distract from what I want to do.
It is ALL of the above.
So good luck google, but remember one thing, you got big because people NO longer were prepared to put up with the crud laden, ad riddled sites of previous search engines. You wouldn't be the first dotcom to commit suicide by ad agency.
Remember, youtube is handy to watch columbo eps, but a torrent wouldn't cost me that much more bandwidth, I would get them in higher res, better sounds and in one long segment. Perhaps google nows this, perhaps this is the end of youtube.
--
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I guess this was bound to happen...
by
Spy+der+Mann
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
But I kinda agree with it. The ads aren't intrusive (you're watching VIDEO, right? We're accustomed to watch COMMERCIALS in VIDEO for ages), and they support the service. I wouldn't mind watching the next model of Gillette Aftershave before watching my favorite clip.
However, the ads shouldn't last longer than 5% of the video in question, even if they're little watermarks on the bottom right corner. And one more thing: The ads must NOT be part of the.flv!!! I want to be able to download them and not having to watch the commercial over and over and over.
I guess we'll have to wait to see how things go.
Re:Excellent opportunity to test multiple choices
by
kebes
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I think YouTube should offer some sort of "revenue sharing" options, though.
YouTube already does this. It's called being a "YouTube partner." Most of the highly-subscribed channels are partners and get a bit of money from the views (Wikipedia info here and official blog here).
I'd prefer to see YouTube offer a "subscriber" option -- pay $x/month or $x/GB transferred to skip ads of all sorts.
I'm sure some users would take advantage of such an option. However my guess would be that most users (who frequent YouTube quite casually) wouldn't consider spending money on a YouTube subscription. So, ultimately, most of YouTube's revenue is not going to come from subscription programs. Similar to Slashdot: the subscriber option exists but it seems to be a minority who use it.
YouTube has a huge opportunity here to offer snippets, full shows, and amateur content, while offering the viewer the option to pay up front, or watch ads rather than paying. Bandwidth and hosting ain't free, not even for Google, who can also handle fee distribution between their hosting office and the content "owner." This is a big step to also reduce the need for companies to monitor for copyright infringement, as it gives them the option to host their own stuff and make the pennies per hit.
I agree that there is a huge opportunity here. Both amateurs and the big networks have the chance here to make serious money by posting content on YouTube. I don't think anyone has a big problem with ads, as long as they are reasonable (not too annoying, not too long, etc.). I'm hoping that YouTube understands how to implement ads (hint: reasonably unobtrusive, like Google ads, and not consistently bothersome, like TV ads).
I don't know how to tell you this, but if you're complaining about using the mouse while browsing the web, you're fighting a losing battle. Yes, there are ways to navigate through websites without the mouse, but most of the time using the mouse is easier. With modern web design techniques, the mouse is becoming more essential to web browsing, not less so. Maybe you should invest in a nice mouse pad with a wrist rest, or perhaps a trackball.
If they share the ad revenue, it could be good.
by
tinrobot
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
The article mentions something about "partnerships" and I assume that means the ad revenue will be shared.
That could be good, because it means it's possible for someone who produces popular and engaging content to be rewarded financially without having to kiss the feet of big corporate media.
Although their current idea doesn't sound terribly annoying (a small overlay at the bottom), a much better solution would be to just add text ads around the video. Forced ads don't gel with youtubes philosiphy of watching your choice of stuff in your free time, it would better match the sites flow if you were able to view ads at your choice as well, which text ads to the side would allow.
Like the network TV promos....
by
xgr3gx
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
The ad overlay is probably no worse than those ridiculous network promos that take up almost a good 1/4 of you TV screen in the lower right corner.
I read an article (I think it was here on slashdot) that streaming video traffic this year is greater than all internet traffic from the year 2000. I'm sure youtube is partly responsible for that.
Lets not forget, disk space, servers, and bandwidth aren't free, even though use of youtube is.
We can't hold it against them too much for wanting to earn a little cash to offset the tremendous resources it must take to power youtube.
Streaming flash players are popping up everywhere. If people get pissed at youtube, we can start freetube, with no ads.
Too bad more browsers don't accomomdate keyboard users well... Firefox, for instance, as good as it is, still skips some form elements when tabbing through forms. Plus, it changes which elements are "acceptable" to tab through on different platforms! Firefox on MSWin != Ffx OS X != Ffx *nix. Thank gods we have Opera.
Very unobtrusive - diverts the eye briefly as it appears, then is small enough to not bother you once you look back to the video.
No sound - very important! Nothing is more annoying than those new TV overlay ads that incorporate sound, especially when meaningful dialog is taking place.
It has an X button - I was worried about this one, but as soon as the ad appears you can click the "x" to make it vanish permanently. The "x" is easy to hit with the mouse, and since the video has just started 15 seconds previous, you haven't sat back in your chair to watch yet. Very easy to use.
Targetted ads are better than untargetted ads! The less bright-eyed white-clad models I see hopping around the screen waving tampons and telling me about whatever brand they happen to be using at the time the better.
Also, the fact that the "x" button appears in the same place every time makes you wonder - how hard would it be to write a Firefox plugin that fakes a mouse click at the proper position 15 seconds into the video? Doesn't sound too tough, but that's not my field.
one significant problem (ie, the DMCA)
by
Triv
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I can see at least one significant problem with this.
Let's say I upload something I don't control the copyright on, something like fansubbed anime. Let's assume it falls through youtube's copyright enforcement cracks and stays up, and youtube overlays an ad on top of it. YouTube is therefore generating a profit from copyrighted material they don't have the license to distribute. That's a helluva can of worms, wriggly legal ones, one that YouTube knows about - there aren't ads on the actual video pages for precisely that reason.
Wonder how they're gonna get around that without losing their DMCA safeharbor provisions. S'gonna be interesting to watch.
Slashdot Mirror
them to spend 1.65 BILLION dollars on something if they didn't have a revenue source in mind? The existing business model of YouTube was...oh wait, there wasn't actually a business model unless selling to some bigger company counts.
"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - Tennyson
Yay, another thing I have to click on to get the video? Like when their stupid menu decides to minimize the showing video. I really really really HATE using my mouse, its the source of carpel tunnel syndrome and it pisses me off when a website forces me to shift to mouse.
No waiting to watch the video, and has some nice features to it. While I'm sure most people would say "BOO!" to advertising, Google has made itself known as someone who cares about targeted advertising. I myself have found a number of retailers through Google's contextual advertising which I have patronized.
I guess most people have become disenfranchised with the dubious nature of national adverts for weight loss pills and whatnot, which is understandable. Publishing companies that allow such advertising into their products are doing their customers a disservice, as well as the industry. Look at what it has brought us - the necessity for ad blocking on the web, TiVO, etc.. Who knows if those of us in the publishing industry will ever be able to regain the trust of our consumers (I work in the newspaper industry).
"Better to be vulgar than non-existent" -Bev Henson
Advertising to pay for everything. Offcourse in a way it does, youtube has been paid for by advertising already although the ads so far have been on other sites. In the end however it was Google that bought it and presumably paid those who had been paying for the massive amounts of bandwidth.
Overlays on video off 10 seconds, 15 seconds after the video started, at the bottom of the screen.
Mmm, what to say about that, something that sounds thoughtful, intresting and will garner me the praise of the internet.
Oh I know:
YUCK
Do NOT want!
I seen something like this before on a torrented becker episode, after commerical breaks (Fellow europeans, if you ever complained about ads in the EU, just watch an american show with the commericals left in. You will be hugging you commericial channels advertising staff before the show is out) it showed some ad that popped some weird cartoon dude up to sell something. God knows what it was for but taking up 50% of the screen was kinda annoying.
While this may astound yanks, the bottom of the screen has its uses for subtitles. So basically subs are out while the ad plays?
I can well understand googles desire to get some revenue going, I am currently watching old columbo eps on youtube all for free except my ISP fee and whatever google has to pay to upload several gigs of data.
But I hate ads. It is not just that they get in the way, it is not just that 99% of them insult the intelligence of a republican, it is not that 99% of them are irrelevant to me (jay leno site shows me clips for american companies while I am in holland, even the best ad is not going to get me to fly to the US to buy something), that they cost me bandwidth, that the distract from what I want to do.
It is ALL of the above.
So good luck google, but remember one thing, you got big because people NO longer were prepared to put up with the crud laden, ad riddled sites of previous search engines. You wouldn't be the first dotcom to commit suicide by ad agency.
Remember, youtube is handy to watch columbo eps, but a torrent wouldn't cost me that much more bandwidth, I would get them in higher res, better sounds and in one long segment. Perhaps google nows this, perhaps this is the end of youtube.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
But I kinda agree with it. The ads aren't intrusive (you're watching VIDEO, right? We're accustomed to watch COMMERCIALS in VIDEO for ages), and they support the service. I wouldn't mind watching the next model of Gillette Aftershave before watching my favorite clip.
.flv!!! I want to be able to download them and not having to watch the commercial over and over and over.
However, the ads shouldn't last longer than 5% of the video in question, even if they're little watermarks on the bottom right corner. And one more thing: The ads must NOT be part of the
I guess we'll have to wait to see how things go.
I don't know how to tell you this, but if you're complaining about using the mouse while browsing the web, you're fighting a losing battle. Yes, there are ways to navigate through websites without the mouse, but most of the time using the mouse is easier. With modern web design techniques, the mouse is becoming more essential to web browsing, not less so. Maybe you should invest in a nice mouse pad with a wrist rest, or perhaps a trackball.
The article mentions something about "partnerships" and I assume that means the ad revenue will be shared.
That could be good, because it means it's possible for someone who produces popular and engaging content to be rewarded financially without having to kiss the feet of big corporate media.
Although their current idea doesn't sound terribly annoying (a small overlay at the bottom), a much better solution would be to just add text ads around the video. Forced ads don't gel with youtubes philosiphy of watching your choice of stuff in your free time, it would better match the sites flow if you were able to view ads at your choice as well, which text ads to the side would allow.
The ad overlay is probably no worse than those ridiculous network promos that take up almost a good 1/4 of you TV screen in the lower right corner.
I read an article (I think it was here on slashdot) that streaming video traffic this year is greater than all internet traffic from the year 2000. I'm sure youtube is partly responsible for that.
Lets not forget, disk space, servers, and bandwidth aren't free, even though use of youtube is.
We can't hold it against them too much for wanting to earn a little cash to offset the tremendous resources it must take to power youtube.
Streaming flash players are popping up everywhere. If people get pissed at youtube, we can start freetube, with no ads.
Shameless plug alert: Game server control panel
Thank gods we have Opera.
My impressions:
- Very unobtrusive - diverts the eye briefly as it appears, then is small enough to not bother you once you look back to the video.
- No sound - very important! Nothing is more annoying than those new TV overlay ads that incorporate sound, especially when meaningful dialog is taking place.
- It has an X button - I was worried about this one, but as soon as the ad appears you can click the "x" to make it vanish permanently. The "x" is easy to hit with the mouse, and since the video has just started 15 seconds previous, you haven't sat back in your chair to watch yet. Very easy to use.
- Targetted ads are better than untargetted ads! The less bright-eyed white-clad models I see hopping around the screen waving tampons and telling me about whatever brand they happen to be using at the time the better.
Also, the fact that the "x" button appears in the same place every time makes you wonder - how hard would it be to write a Firefox plugin that fakes a mouse click at the proper position 15 seconds into the video? Doesn't sound too tough, but that's not my field.Let's say I upload something I don't control the copyright on, something like fansubbed anime. Let's assume it falls through youtube's copyright enforcement cracks and stays up, and youtube overlays an ad on top of it. YouTube is therefore generating a profit from copyrighted material they don't have the license to distribute. That's a helluva can of worms, wriggly legal ones, one that YouTube knows about - there aren't ads on the actual video pages for precisely that reason.
Wonder how they're gonna get around that without losing their DMCA safeharbor provisions. S'gonna be interesting to watch.