April 30, 2008

Google/YouTube Priorities

YouTube tests a new player and it looks great: the chrome is less pregnant and almost invisible, two rarely-used buttons have been removed, the volume control takes less space, you can finally use keyboard shortcuts (up/down arrows for volume, right arrow for fast forward, space to pause the video).


In other YouTube news, Eric Schmidt said in an interview for CNBC that the highest priority for YouTube this year is figuring out how to make money. "We believe the best products [for monetizing YouTube] are coming out this year. And they're new products. They're not announced. They're not just putting in-line ads in the things that people are trying."

Asked whether gaining a larger share of the ad market is Google's biggest priority, Eric Schmidt changed his mind. "Well, our number one priority is end-user--end-user happiness. Literally, are people happy with the results that they get using Google search? So it's literally search, and every day we bring out new improvements and indices that are--taxonomies that are understanding of language, more content, bigger--all of the things that make Google such a great search experience. That's our number-one priority, even more important, for example, than advertising."

It makes you wonder if the new minimalistic YouTube player intends to improve user experience or make room for the cutting-edge monetization features that will be announced later this year. "Well, our number one priority is end-user--end-user happiness. (...) I don't think we've quite figured out the perfect solution of how to make money [from YouTube], and we're working on that. That's our highest priority this year."

But maybe the two priorities converge at some point. "Google believes that advertising itself has value. The ads literally are valuable to consumers. Not just to the advertisers, but the consumers," said Eric Schmidt in the same interview. Maintaining the right balance between all these priorities is a difficult challenge for Google and one of the reason why, after one year and a half since the acquisition, YouTube still doesn't make significant money.

{ Thanks, Daniel. }

26 comments:

  1. Thanks for the heads up!

    Do you know how to turn off the auto load/play when there are more than one part in a list? I like it but it's loading different parts than the one I am currently watching.

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  2. Talking about the future of Youtube, this might be interesting: http://scobleizer.com/2008/04/30/youtube-working-on-live-streaming/

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  3. The only problem with the new player is that adding &fmt=18 does not load the MP4 video anymore...

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  4. What I read into those comments, is that they are looking for ways to make more money. The comment about search follows that tune when you read between the lines a little, as the happier people are with Google Search - the more pople will use their services over the competition which indirectly means they'll make more money via their paid advertising platform.

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  5. Still waiting for CC in YouTube.

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  6. Although Youtube is best online videos resource ,but i face some difficulties in video search and it is not as user friendly like google search engine.

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  7. youtube video search is some time not appropriate what we wants from it.

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  8. YouTube player makes room for the cutting-edge monetization features and the best online video source platform for video viewer and i think google also should start such type of facility hope it would be done very soon.

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  9. Google you tube is agood option . I love to work with it.

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  10. Google Operating system is better then all others so we can say it is best.

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  11. As the happier people are with Google Search - the more pople will use their services over the competition which indirectly means they'll make more money via their paid advertising platform.

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  12. interesting enough, this is an old article, more then a year old actually, and I see few new things on youtube.. it has even stoped working on my ipone :(

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  13. I would say the Google's Youtube priority are Ads. We will see in the feature more and more methods for monetize youtube videos.

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  14. Google made the right decision when bought YouTube. They will monetise it much, much better throu ads.

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  15. Google made a good choice when bought You Tube, and I guess You Tube made a good choice to by selling it. It definitely was a good turn for the You Tube owners too.

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  16. I think YouTube is awesome I can teach many people guitar all over the world. Google made the right decision in purchasing YouTube. Before you know it they will own everything online.

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  17. YouTube is a great tool for many people. I use it to broadcast my opinions in a vlog, whilst others can use it to showcase their talents at making movies or parodies. It deserves to be worth the vast amounts that Google paid for it, and in time, it will make them an astronomical return.

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  18. The search feature does not really work that well on youtube imo. tried looking for videos that I put on but could not find with ease. Any tips?

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  19. Youtube is great for learning new things. I have used this site to solve many problems.

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  20. As good as the new Youtube interfaces are my biggest gripe is the search results interface in Youtube. It doesn't always seem to return the results I'm looking for.

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  21. i like the newer interface for youtube plus the added tools.. it took a little time to get used to but like anything it is just an adjustment...

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  22. Youtube is very famous today.. This is the best site for me because they allow any videos except those porn videos. They offer a big space for everyone.

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  23. I think it's safe to say, Google is happy with their investment in YouTube!!!!

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  24. With Video views on the increase and fast becoming the second most popular way people research information. Youtube will definitely be a winner for Google.

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  25. I'm not too impressed with the new Vevo viewer now, only because of the advertisements it shows before you can actually watch the vids. Advertisements on YouTube were bound to happen though.

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