by Michael Learmonth, Senior Editor, Silicon Alley Insider
YouTube has always been very clear about the separation of editorial content and sponsored ads on its site: While the site is eager to sell advertising, placements as “featured” or “promoted” videos–incredibly valuable, high-traffic spots on the homepage–are not for sale.
by Michael Learmouth, Senior Editor, Silicon Alley Insider
Stream, Justin.TV, Stickam, Mogulus and everyone else trying to make a business out of live streaming can breath a little easier. YouTube, which had previously said it would start live streaming in 2008, won’t be getting into the business this year. And it probably won’t next year, according to a source familiar with its plans.
by Michael Learmonth, Senior Editor, Silicon Alley Insider
We know Google’s YouTube is a tough sell for advertisers. But video site’s sales team may be having an even tougher time than recent reports suggest. YouTube sales manager Brian Cusack says YouTube is able to sell ads against “less than 3%” of the total videos on the site.
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by Michael Learmonth, Senior Editor, Silicon Alley Insider
We keep hearing that marketers increasingly like the idea of Web series as a promotional tool, and are finally starting to pay more for them. Case in point: the WSJ says Vogue and IMG are producing a 12-episode online reality series called Model.Live for $3 million, or about $31,000 a minute.
by Michael Learmonth, Senior Editor, Silicon Alley Insider
What do people like to watch on the Web? They don’t really know, according to a survey conducted by ClipBlast. The company says almost half of Web video watchers can’t tell you why or how they end up watching a specific video–they just do.
by Michael Learmonth, Senior Editor, Silicon Alley Insider
Remember how the writers’ strike was forcing people to shut off their TVs and turn to their Web browsers? Think again: Nielsen says video viewership actually dropped 5% from December (6.2 billion streams) to January (5.9 billion). Not surprising, then, that YouTube, the dominant purveyor of Web video, also slipped from 2.64 billion streams in December to 2.57 billion in January. Unique viewers at YouTube were also down slightly from 67.2 million to 66.2 million in January. But YouTube kept its 42% market share of total streams.
by Michael Learmonth, Senior Editor, Silicon Alley Insider
Last fall Philippe Dauman Jr. went to work for Google as a “Strategic Partner Development Associate.” This struck some folks as odd, given that his dad, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, is suing Google for $1 billion. Our understanding is that Google is an intense, go-go workplace, but apparently Philippe Jr. has some free time on his hands. He’s co-founded Yuzu Music, a New York-based start-up.
YouTube is still Google’s toughest sell to advertisers, but the video site is doing better by one measure than most people think: YouTube is selling ads against about 9% of its video views in the U.S., up from just 6% a year ago.
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