Gear Up for Google TV & YouTube Changes
Gear Up for Google TV & YouTube Changes
Social media marketing firms have been waiting anxiously for news concerning the new Google TV updates for YouTube. This past Saturday, Google teased social media readers via their Facebook page, with promises of a “big announcement” due out Monday morning. Well, Monday morning has come an d gone…so, what was the big splash and how will it impact small business owners?
According to early information released by Google, the new and improved YouTube functions will allow viewers to easily navigate between videos and improve “channels” so it becomes possible to surf online video in much the same manner that users do traditional television. However, unlike traditional television, Internet video is “on demand” so viewers not only have the ability to surf different “channels” but acquire information from the same channel. It’s an idea long overdue given the complexity of finding other video’s even by the same provider much less locating items of interest by others.
Stunning Stats
Social media and video go together like “peas and carrots” with experts predicting a rapid rise in the use of video via social media and vice versa. However, chances are you don’t know nearly as much about YouTube as you might think. Consider these stunning stats…
- According to Google, an hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second of the day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That is a lot of video! Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that YouTube logged 1 Trillion (with a “T”) page views in 2011 and is expected to surpass that level every year for the next several years!
- The average Internet user visits YouTube roughly 14 times each month or over 170 times a year and spends 25 minutes per visit. That is about 70 hours a year or approximately 2 weeks.
- YouTube is available in over 22 nations and over 43 languages.
- More video is uploaded to YouTube every 2 months than the 3 major US networks created in the past 60 years!
- To match the amount of video uploaded in 2010, theaters would need to release 150,000 full length movies every week.
- YouTube receives more than 3 Billion views each day…nearly double the entire audience of all major broadcasters during prime-time hours.
- 70% of all YouTube traffic is foreign with 30% represented by domestic interests.
Changes
Like the old adage, “the more things change the more they stay the same”, some of the upcoming changes announced by Google seem like old news; that is because many of the changes are deliberately designed to mimic traditional television. For instance, the ability to “channel surf” is a long standing tradition among many tried and true couch potatoes and somewhat mimicked by the new “Discover” option. On the other hand, there are some definite improvements built in to the upcoming changes that are likely to revolutionize viewing habits. Viewers will be able to rate video’s, add items of interest to a playlist, include feedback or comments and other interactive types of communication.
The updated YouTube app for GoogleTv as well as Android should be available almost immediately. Along with the improved channel surfing and discovery features, YouTube is also boosting improved recommendations. New algorithm changes are able to measure how funny a comedy video actually is by the intensity of viewer comments. Of course, that puts even more emphasis on comments making each even more valuable when creating a video campaign.
Future Plans
Google is also taking a very proactive position in terms of hardware and software investment by teaming up with the likes of Samsung and LG. According to YouTube, 90% of all web traffic will be video within the next decade. Clearly, YouTube is making plans to dominate this market well in advance. However, not to be outdone, Apple TV is expected to revitalize their initial push into your living room by updating a set-top box and a planned release of a voice input system expected to ship in 2013.
Bottom Line for Small Business
Social media marketing routinely uses video but as the amount of interest increases, so does the clutter and competition for viewers. Changes to YouTube represent a significant improvement especially to those that have created their own channel. Small business owners should run – not walk – to position their business with an individualized channel if they haven’t done so already.
The new algorithm changes will place greater weight on comments and viewer feedback making it more important than ever to design video’s that inspire interaction. Yes, we all know spam can be a problem but there are viable methods of dealing with it…the benefit of heavy feedback far outweigh the negatives when it comes to obtaining higher ratings.
The emphasis on algorithm rating of user feedback will initially focus on funny video’s and will specifically measure commonly used acronyms, exclamations, repetition etc…
Unsure exactly how this works? It’s actually a bit amusing. Viewers tend to express humor by using several commonly accepted terms such as LOL but if they are really amused, the same user may emphasize it by typing an elongated version (ie, Loooooll), a repetitious version (lololololo) or exclamations (LOL!!!!). By designing an algorithm which measures the intensity of the feedback, YouTube is now able to rank the overall humor level of a video.
Since most viewers rank comedy among the most effective means of making a video go viral, the ability of a small business or social media consulting firm to master this new algorithm might just leave clients LOLOLOLLLLLLLL!!!! all the way to the bank!
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