Youtube expands video to long-form, aim`s to make back lost revenue
Posted by Phil Smulian on 21 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Social Media
Seth Godin wrote that we should “think twice before buying SEO services from a general purpose ad agency”. He analogised this with getting a hammer specialist to do your nail work, rather than hiring an artisan in general handicrafts.
In his post scrutinising Google`s interest in buying TV ad space, he says that he feels it a mistake to add too many tools to your belt. He claims that “By diversifying their toolset, they’ll get less good at their core skill”.
Well, I`d agree. Google should probably avoid TV advertising and Microsoft should probably get out of search. Google have YouTube, and they are now trying to get some return on the large investment. They`ve decided to get into proper long-form video distribution, as they have neglected that market for some time and would now like to grab their share.
They`ve spent tireless months developing their production of long-form video. Now, they`ve signed up with CBS to deliver various popular TV series. They will be placing ads within the stream. I It seems eerily close to TV advertising, doesn`t it?
It looks like YouTube do not intend to move away from their usual short-form video format at all, it is the reason they have such a massive view-count (Five billion or so videos watched in a month).
The problem is that YouTube founders felt it would alienate viewers to get ads in their short clip streams.
Part of the allure of YouTube is the sheer speed at which you can sift through endless footage. Their search is efficient, with convenient thumbnails loading beneath each other, and with the power of Google`s search to help with textual relevance.
They also display suggestions for videos to watch. Basically, the whole experience is so convenient that it has the power to turn casual internet surfers into video junkies. I can`t see how long-form video serving will tie in with the highly successful structure they have already. I imagine it will adopt a similar strategy to existing long-form video networks, such as AT&T, Hulu, EdgeCast and VeriSign .
October 24th, 2008 at 8:41 am
i have always wondered when Youtube will do this. watching one series in six, ten minute clips can become pretty frustrating. Looking forward to seeing this change:-)