Thanks for your submissions last month! Here's the next batch of requests for love on Twitter or Spotlight Videos (if you don't see this module on your homepage, add it here). Spotlights run a few times per week and showcase interesting and timely videos from our community and partners, all organized around an event or theme. Tag any appropriate and relevant video with the tags below to be considered for these spotlights, and please do so well before the date listed below. Please also note that themes and dates are subject to change and spotlights may be added or dropped without notice.
7/4 - Independence Day: BBQ, fireworks, sun, sand and sea...the possibilities for video are endless, so show us what you've got! (tag: yt4th)
7/9 - Vidcon: Going to this user gathering/conference in L.A. next weekend? We want to see your video'd reports, encounters and other fun stuff. (tag: ytvidcon)
7/22 - ComicCon: We're looking to feature the latest from this year's comics/pop culture expo (tag: ytcomiccon)
Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, Community, recently watched "Go South Africa!"
Last month we announced the launch of YouTube Partner Communication Hub, which is the go-to spot for news on the latest features, product updates and other partner-related information. Today we are excited to let you know we have revamped the “Optimization Resources” section of the site and have added a few new documents that will help you make the most of your presence on YouTube. Specifically, we have added resources which show you how to improve content discoverability, increase revenue potential and take full advantage of our Insight tool.
Going forward, we will regularly update the “Optimization Resources” section of the site with new tips and fresh insight -- so check back weekly. You can also opt to receive automatic updates via RSS by subscribing to the feed.
Video has always been a unique storytelling tool, especially useful when reporting the news. From raw, citizen-reported videos from the streets of Tehran, to student documentaries highlighting under-reported issues in local communities, or investigative reporting done by professional news outlets, just about every type of news video can now be found on YouTube. Video is also tightly integrated into the Google News experience, providing users different ways to consume and enjoy news, while giving news publishers the opportunity to reach a greater and more diverse audience.
We are working to make it easier to get your video content indexed in Google News, but ensuring it’s found in a timely fashion is another matter. So we thought we’d share six best practices for how news publishers can increase the discoverability of their news videos.
1. Timely uploads Videos should be uploaded as quickly as possible -- this will help them reach the news homepage faster and be grouped with the most recent articles.
2. One story per video Instead of having one video that contains multiple segments covering several different stories of the day, it's a better user experience (and easier for us to index), when there is one story per video, and the video title is specific (not something generic like “Breaking News”). At the very least, the description of the video should match the first story in the video.
3. Categorization If you are providing general news coverage, select YouTube category “News & Politics” (which is youtube_category_id 25) when uploading your video. If you have multiple channels, clearly identify each category (politics, business, entertainment, sports, etc.).
4. More detailed descriptions Similar to the first paragraph of a news article, descriptions of the news video should convey the who, what, when, where, and why of the story in a few sentences -- the more detail you can supply, the better.
5. Rich tags Another way to convey the content of the video is using the keyword tags. Providing keywords that might not be in the description gives us more knowledge of what the video is about. Especially helpful are proper nouns: the names of the people, places, companies, etc. mentioned in the video.
6. Make it Embeddable Be sure your video is embeddable on other sites since this is currently a technical requirement for being displayed in Google News. Additionally, if your videos are geo-blocked in certain regions, they will not appear in Google News.
If your news organization isn’t already making its video content available on YouTube and Google News, we encourage you to get started. More information on how to submit your news videos to Google News can also be found in the News Publishers Help Center, and you can watch this video for additional tips on news search engine optimization.
Posted by Benoit Lafortune, Sr. Strategist Google News, and Olivia Ma, YouTube News Manager
We're thinking about Spotlight Videos (if you don't see this module on your homepage, add it here!) for the month of May. Spotlights run a few times per week and showcase interesting and timely videos from our community and partners, all organized around an event or theme. Tag any appropriate and relevant video with the tags below to be considered for these spotlights. Please note that themes and dates are subject to change and spotlights may be added or dropped without notice.
5/7 - ROFLCon: Did you go to this conference on Internet memes? We'd like to feature funny highlights and YouTube-relevant clips (tag: ytroflcon).
5/9 - Mother's Day: We're looking for videos about moms or for a notable mom to curate (tag: ytmoms).
5/22 - Pacman turns 30: On the occasion of the lil yellow guy's anniversary, we're looking for videos that pay homage to this classic game in creative ways (tag: ytpacman).
If you're interested in being a curator or have ideas for a theme we haven't mentioned, please email mia@youtube.com. Thanks!
Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, Editorial/Community, recently watched "Cupcake Canon."
Last fall, we announced the release of YouTube Direct, a tool that allows media organizations to request, review and rebroadcast YouTube clips directly from YouTube users, and on their own website. In addition to our launch partners (ABC News, the Huffington Post, NPR, Politico, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post, and WHDH-TV/WLVI-TV in Boston), many other news organizations and websites -- including the Tribune Company, Gannett, Al Jazeera, and ITN News -- have signed on and are using the platform to collect citizen reporting and commentary around news events all around the world. There are nearly 400 news partners on YouTube able to use YouTube Direct to generate news content that helps them extend and engage their audience.
Today, we’re rolling out the latest version of YouTube Direct, which includes substantial upgrades that make it easier for news organizations to test and customize the platform. In addition to several back-end changes, we’ve also added new features including:
Mobile application code for both the iPhone and Android
Ability to view and edit YouTube captions for any video submitted (with support for all caption languages)
Multiple YouTube Direct upload modules now possible on a single page
Additional customization and messaging options
If you’re already using YouTube Direct, we strongly encourage you to upgrade. And if you haven’t yet embraced the platform, but want to use YouTube to connect with a larger audience, now is the perfect time to get started.
For more information, visit youtube.com/direct. And to receive updates and announcements in the future, please subscribe to the YouTube API Announcements Google Group.
Recently we debuted an Ideas Page for YouTube, where users from around the globe could contribute ideas and feedback to make YouTube better. It was a success, receiving almost 3,000 ideas and more than 300,000 votes. We even launched a few features that directly addressed some of the requests -- namely, an HTML5 Beta (there were many HTML5 advocates who participated) and a sneak peek of our new cleaner video page (some desired a "less cluttered" YouTube).
Today, we are creating a similar Ideas Page specific to our YouTube Partners, where you can post ideas about how we can improve the site and your experience as partners, and see what other people are suggesting, too. If you like their suggestion, vote for it!
Whether it's an idea for a brand new feature, a small tweak that would simplify your work flow or just feedback about our Partner Program, we'd love to hear it. While we aren't able to guarantee that all ideas will be implemented, we can promise that we'll take the top ideas (as voted by you) and bring them to the YouTube Partner Team for review.
This series will be closed to new submissions and votes on April 12, so be sure to submit your ideas soon. We look forward to hearing from you!
Posted by Filipe Lima, Strategist, Europe, Middle East & Africa
Top five things to know from the consumer-facing side of the house...
1. Support for Haiti The devastation in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti led to an outpouring of reports and donations via YouTube. We also live streamed the benefit concert organized by George Clooney, and continue to encourage people to donate through this disaster relief page.
2. Preview new video page In one of the larger redesigns in YouTube's history, we are currently revamping the "video page," the page on which any video plays, to have a cleaner look and functionality. Read more details about what's changing and why, and get a sneak peek here.
3. Product Ideas for YouTube As part of our early spring cleaning effort, we are polling our users about which product features should be spruced up or even retired. It's part of our overall goal of creating a more consistent site experience for everyone. There are three days left to get your idea in to this Product Ideas series.
4. Badges to promote your channel YouTube's Creator's Corner, our hub for aspiring videographers, just expanded its offering of badges to make it easier to promote your YouTube channel on your blog or site. These can be used by anyone who wants the world to know they have a YouTube presence. Download them here.
5. #subsaturday on Twitter Every Saturday, we invite you to join us on Twitter in shouting out the YouTube users you think are worth subscribing to. These could include other channels in your portfolio, users who you think are doing great work, your peers -- really anyone you like. Be sure to use the hashtag #subsaturday so that people following the program can stay up on your recommendations.
Posted by Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, Editorial/Community
It's been a few months since we announced our partnership with Univision to bring current, full-length and short-form TV episodes from one of the most popular Spanish-language broadcasters in America. Today marks the official launch of the Univision channel on YouTube, where you can find leading programs from Univision's three major networks: Univision, TeleFutura and Galavisión. Some of the most popular shows on the channel include Univision's morning show Despierta América (Wake-Up America); TeleFutura's entertainment show Escándalo TV (ShowBiz TV), and Galavisión's home decorating series Decorando Contigo (Decorating with You), among many others. The Univision channel on YouTube will also premiere weekly show recaps made just for YouTube viewers. These videos will feature top Univision talent summarizing the best moments from Univision shows in the last week.
The partnership provides more premium, current, monetizeable content for our advertisers interested in reaching the growing online Hispanic demographic; Kraft Foods is the channel's exclusive launch sponsor.
In addition, the launch marks the first time Univision programming will be made available on the web outside of Univision's properties, and we're excited to bring it to our growing Hispanic audience. So sit back, press play and enjoy this great new content. ¡A gozar!
You, the YouTube partner community, have been telling us for a long time to offer revenue options outside of our ad-supported model. To answer these requests, last week we announced YouTube Rentals, a new, transactional model that we hope will help meet your business needs and bring more great content to our community. We launched this "beta" version of our video rental service for U.S. consumers with a small number of independent filmmakers featured at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Through this new offering, content owners now have control over the entire lifecycle of their work. They can migrate videos from rental to ad supported; they can set the price and rental duration. In short, they can test and customize their distribution to fit their audience's habits and their business' needs.
We've invited a small number of additional beta partners in other categories to begin offering videos for rent on YouTube, and thousands of such videos are now available. Here are just a few:
There's no recipe for whether content is best monetized on a rental or ad supported basis, but based on the videos our beta partners are submitting, here are some general guidelines for the type of content that might be a good fit for this new program:
Topics or genres with small but highly passionate audiences will likely monetize well through a rental model
Paying users generally expect longer duration videos with high production value and encoding fidelity
As we improve the product based on feedback from users and partners, we will invite more content creators into the rental program. Eventually, our goal is to make the service available to all content creators who follow our community guidelines and produce videos that appeal to users on a rental basis.
If you are a current or prospective YouTube content partner based in the U.S., you own videos you think will find an audience through rentals, and you're interested in participating in the U.S. consumer beta, please apply here. We'll review your information and reach out to you as soon as we can accommodate your request. If you're based outside the U.S., don't despair. Feel free to apply and we will contact you when the service becomes available in your region.
Here are the upcoming opportunities for our Spotlight Videos module (if you don't see it on your homepage, add it here). Spotlights run a few times per week and showcase interesting and timely videos from our community and partners, all organized around an event or theme. Tag any appropriate and relevant video with the tags below to be considered for these spotlights. Please note that themes and dates are subject to change and spotlights may be added or dropped without notice.
2/5 -- Black History Month: videos spotlighting African-American personalities and achievement (tag: ytbhm) 2/12 -- Winter Sports: videos relating to activities in Vancouver (tag: ytwinter) 2/14 -- Valentine's Day / Year of the Tiger: videos about love and/or the Chinese New Year (tag: ytvaltiger) 2/18 -- Pluto Turns 80: astronomy videos (tag: ytpluto) 2/19 -- Interactive Adventures: videos that use annotations to tell a story in a cool way, like this one from Chadmattandrob (tag: ytinteractive)
Got an idea for a theme we haven't mentioned above? Leave a comment below and we'll consider adding it to our calendar.
Thanks!
Posted by Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, Editorial/Community
You might notice a periodic module on the homepage called Spotlight Videos (if you don't, add it to your homepage). These run a few times per week and showcase interesting and timely videos from our community and partners, all organized around an event or theme.
In 2010, we'll be using this blog to give you advanced notice of opportunities to be a part of these spotlights. At the top of each month, we'll reveal a list of themes, along with an exclusive tag you should place on any video you'd like to be considered for the spotlight. (Please note that themes and dates are subject to change and spotlights may be added or dropped without notice.) We can't promise your video will be part of the feature, but if it is we'll let you know via email and we hope you will join us in promoting its prominent position via any social media or marketing tools you regularly use to connect with your viewers, customers and fans.
With that, we'd like to share the list of some themes for January 2010:
1/1 -- Rejuvenation: tips for staying healthy & keeping those resolutions (tag: ytrejuvenation) 1/5 -- Phone music: videos of original tunes made on mobile phones (tag: ytphonemusic) 1/25 -- Video Volunteers: use your video-making skills for good. Submit a video for a charity supporting the arts (tag: ytvv) 1/27 -- Davos: Is there one issue facing the world today that you feel passionate about? Have you always wanted to take your cause directly to people who have the power to do something about it, but lacked access to have your voice heard? Now is your chance to make your pitch. Click here for more details. (tag: ytdavos)
Got an idea for a theme we haven't mentioned above? Leave a comment below and we'll consider adding it to our calendar.
Thanks!
Posted by Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, Editorial/Community
It's been a busy year for the YouTube Partnerships team. We've been working hard to bring you the videos you want to watch, and to date we have signed well over 10,000 partners. These partners include Hollywood studios and TV networks like Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Turner, Discovery, ESPN and Showtime; new media partners like Demand Media, Next New Networks and Mondo Media; and user partners like Fred, Ryan Higa and Michael Buckley, each of whom is making a living off of the YouTube platform.
Our number one business goal at YouTube is to help video creators make money from their content online. Last year was the most successful year on record from a partner advertising revenue standpoint. In light of this progress, we wanted to list out some of the more memorable partner-related moments of 2009. In no particular order, here they are:
Shows and Movies come to YouTube: This launchbrought thousands of classic full-length TV episodes and hundreds of full-length movies to YouTube, including Ghostbusters, Taxi Driver, Bram Stoker's Dracula and the Spaghetti Western Trilogy.
User-partners experience unprecedented success: Hundreds of YouTube user partners are making thousands of dollars a month on YouTube, but there is a small group whose growth is truly remarkable. Fred, NigaHiga, Smosh and Shane Dawson have each exceeded over a million subscribers, and Fred now has more views than the entire population of the U.S. NigaHiga's short film,"Ninja Melk," released in August of this year generated over a million views in less than a week.
Large entertainment players join the platform: Among the major short- and long-form content deals signed in 2009 were Disney, Turner, Warner Bros., Univision, the UK's C4 and Channel 5. In the world of music we continued to offer content from all four major record labels -- UMG, Sony Music, EMI and Warner Music -- and worked to play our part in the historic VEVO launch
New generation of media companies emerge: Companies like Demand Media, Machinima and Mondo Media have surpassed the half-billion view mark as they built out rich portfolios of videos, channels and brands. These companies have a loyal following on YouTube and have set themselves apart as the "new media powerhouses" of the future through their forward-thinking acquisition and distribution strategy
Viral videos get monetized: Over the summer we expanded the YouTube Partnership Program to include individual popular videos, meaning that users are invited to monetize one-off viral videos and profit from their success on YouTube. One of the stand-out successes of this program so far is "David After Dentist," a video that's generated over $30k for the uploader
Live music rocks the community: This year saw live-streamed events from the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, U2 at the Rose Bowl in L.A., and Alicia Keys' intimate World AIDS Day concert in NYC. U2 especially impressed: broadcast to 140 countries, the concert racked up a total of 10mm streams, making it the most successful live-streaming event in YouTube history
Film is released simultaneously in theaters, on TV and on YouTube: Famed French producer and director Luc Besson experimented with an innovative distribution strategy for his environmentally conscious film "Home", which, on YouTube alone, went on to generate 7mm views in 6 weeks.
Strong adoption of Content ID: Over 1,000+ partners today are using our copyright management technology, Content ID, including every major U.S. network broadcaster, movie studio and record label. Content ID scans over 100 years of content a day and over 50% of our partners choose to monetize their content on YouTube, effectively turning what was one of their biggest challenges -- illegal use of their content -- into a user-friendly, efficient source of revenue and marketing insight.
Uruguayan filmmaker lands multi-million dollar deal based on YouTube clip:Federico Alvarez Mattos' special-effects-laden YouTube video, "Ataque de Panico (Panic Attack!) 2009," caught the eye of Hollywood bigwigs, who offered him a seven-figure deal to bring his talents to the large screen under the tutelage of director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man).
Screening Room film wins an Emmy:Josh Raskin's "I Met the Walrus" was one of the first short films featured in the YouTube Screening Room, YouTube's platform for independent film content. Featuring dazzling animation set to an intimate interview with John Lennon, it's been raking in the accolades since its premiere in 2008. The latest award was a Daytime Emmy for New Approaches.
It's been an exciting year, to say the least. We can't wait to see what the next one has in store.
Posted by David Eun, Vice President of Content Partnerships
On Thursday, November 26, at 5 p.m. (UK time), the European partnerships team is holding a Webinar designed to help partners better manage their accounts and uploads. Here's the rundown:
What: A 20-25 minute presentation where YouTube partner team specialists will share some useful information on how to boost your video views and increase your earnings. They'll also go over new product features and share best practices and innovative ways to attract visitors to your channel and content.
At the end of the session, there will be a 15-minute Q&A session with all Webinar participants. This is the perfect chance to ask a YouTube specialist any questions you may have about the Partner Program.
When: This Thursday, November 26, at 5 p.m. UK time. (That's 9 a.m. PT or 12 p.m. ET -- we know it's a holiday in the U.S., but anyone is welcome to join this session.)
How: To register for the event, click here. Once you have clicked the link you will be redirected to an external page provided by our partner, Webex. On this Webex page, you will find information about the event and what to expect. Please fill the required information (name, surname, email address and YouTube username) and click "Submit." You'll then be all set and registered for the Webinar.
What if you can't make it or miss it? Don't worry. We understand our users are in various time zones or might not be able to make this time. We record all Webinars so that anyone who missed it can catch up any time. This talk, as well as our previous partner Webinars, can be found on the official YouTube Partner Support channel.
We hope you are ready to see how you can start earning more with YouTube and will participate in this session. Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Posted by Timur Sultanov, UK Partner Team Specialist
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