jatiN mahindrA doT coM

YouTube Video Upload Rate Tops 24 Hours/Minute

Legend has it that St. Patrick performed a miracle by driving all the snakes out of Ireland.  Now, it seems that YouTube’s accomplishing an amazing feat of its own just by functioning.  A director of product management revealed this afternoon that a whopping 24 hours of video are now uploaded to the site every minute. Hunter Walk (who, we must note, once worked for Conan O’Brien)...

YouTube Looking For Indie Bands

YouTube has expanded its partner program and has introduced "Musicians Wanted" aimed at getting independent bands or artists to submit music videos to the site. Interested independent bands or artist can apply for Musicians Wanted through YouTube’s Partner Program. Those who are accepted will have their own page where they can add details about where they will be playing, provide links...

Google Gives Advertisers Another “In” On YouTube

In a move that investors and marketers alike should applaud, Google’s figured out another way to make money off the site it bought for $1.65 billion three and a half years ago.  Today, Google explained that it’s come up with a tool to help small organizations advertise on YouTube. Emily Williams, a member of the Inside AdWords team, explained on the corporate blog, "[W]e’re...

Nielsen: Online Video Usage Significantly Up YOY

Glass-half-full and glass-half-empty types, prepare to be split.  New stats from Nielsen indicate that February of 2010 was a great month for the online video industry compared to February of 2009.  Last month was a little bit rotten compared to January of 2010, however. The chart below shows how the big-picture data categories played out.  "Unique Viewers" and "Total...

YouTube Solicits Ideas For Partner Program

YouTube Partners are, pretty much by definition, some of YouTube’s most important users.  They create original content, don’t violate copyright laws, and have huge audiences.  It makes sense, then, that YouTube is now looking hard for ways to improve its Partner Program. The hunt has taken the form of a crowdsourced project.  Just as the Ideas Page for YouTube was created...

YouTube Launches New Mobile Ads

Google is launching ads on the home page, search page, and browser page on the mobile version of YouTube in the U.S. and Japan. "This is a great way for advertisers to reach YouTube viewers across multiple platforms," says Google Strategic Partner Development Manager Taylor Cascino. "In fact, at launch YouTube will immediately provide one of the largest audiences for a mobile ad campaign...

Estimate Puts YouTube’s Gross Revenue At $945m

An important, if not surprising, item: Another Google/YouTube exec has voiced his opinion that YouTube will be profitable this year.  More interestingly, an outside analyst has done the same, and also forecast a gross revenue figure of almost $1 billion. Let’s start by talking about Citigroup’s Mark Mahaney, who generated that estimate.  As Peter Kafka explained, Mahaney took...

YouTube Changes Default Size on Embeds

YouTube has changed the default size for embedded videos. By default they’re getting bigger at either 480×385 for a 4:3 video, or 640×385 for a 16:9 video. YouTube says it went with these sizes, because they will give most viewers the best viewing experience because they better match current video encoding sizes. "A video’s life on YouTube is just the beginning; embedding...

YouTube Expands Auto-Captioning Program

Whether they’re used for the benefit of the hard of hearing, people who speak a different language, or just folks who want to watch videos while at work or in a library, captions can be helpful in all sorts of circumstances.  And now, captions should become much more common, as all YouTube users will be able to take advantage of an auto-caption tool. This tool is designed to work on all...

Should Social Media Be Held Accountable for User Actions?

A judge in Milan, Italy has convicted three Google executives over a video uploaded to YouTube in a case, which could have serious implications for social media and ultimately, the web in general, at least in Italy. The video, uploaded back in 2006, featured a group of school kids bullying an autistic child. Google says it worked with Italian authorities to help ID the person responsible for uploading...

Tufts Brings YouTube Into The Admissions Process

YouTube’s a site that’s been used by nonprofit organizations to address serious human rights issues.  It’s also a site that’s been used to exhibit children kicking adults in the crotch.  Now, in a move that sort of bridges the gap, Tufts University has started allowing applicants to post clips featuring themselves. "Lee Coffin, Tufts’ dean of admissions,...

Google Video Compression Developer Acquisition Complete

Update: Late Friday, Google announced that it closed the On2 Technologies acquisition, valued at about $124.6 million, after On2’s shareholders voted to approve the transaction. "We’re excited to welcome the On2 team to Google and to continue to enhance the video experience for users on the web," said Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management at Google. "Through...

YouTube Streams Tiger Woods Press Conference Live

Most people I know are pretty tired of hearing about Tiger Woods, but the world is still apparently eager to hear what he has to say at his press conference today. Currently, "what time is tiger woods press conference" is listed on Google Trends, and "Tiger Woods" is a trending topic on Twitter. Clearly a lot of people still care. If you fall into this category, you may be interested...

US Speedskating Taps Facebook And Twitter

United States Speedskating is turning to social media to connect with fans and build on publicity generated by the recent sponsorship of Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Nation. "US Speedskating is taking a leadership position by embracing opportunities to connect with fans on social networks," said Libby Issendorf, a social media strategist with the Flint Group, a Midwest-based communications...

YouTube Advertises Presence Of New Iran Protest Clips

Yesterday, Iranian authorities enacted a ban on Gmail, saying they’d introduce a government-sponsored (and presumably government-monitored) email service to replace it.  Now, as YouTube’s seeing an influx of protest videos, Google’s taken a moment to mark the Iranian government’s lack of control. To be clear: these videos are not all specifically related to the Gmail development. ...