Official Blog
In Cyberspace, No One Can Hear You Scream
Friday, October 31, 2008
If you're someone who scares easily, is afraid of things that go bump in the night, or is terrorized by the prospect of monsters hiding in your closet, then please consider yourself warned: the four horror films lurking in the
YouTube Screening Room
are not for you.
Seriously, this is some scary stuff. In "
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
," a disgraced aerial navigator confronts an unspeakable evil, and finds that it is much closer than he thinks. A young boy's fear of the dark is turned upside down when his trusty security lamp malfunctions in "
Night Light
." "
Advantage
" is the story of a young couple who stumbles onto a suburban tennis court and into a sinister game, in which their opponents have a distinct home court advantage. Finally, in "
There Are Monsters"
"... well, you probably catch the drift.
So if you think you're ready to be spooked, startled or just plain terrified, then
click here
.
But please, don't watch alone.
Sara P.
YouTube Film
Happy Halloween from Horror Film Legend Wes Craven
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Last year, heavy metal frontman
Rob Zombie
turned up on YouTube's doorstep to deliver the tricks and treats. This year, our nightmares
were answered when legendary horror film director
Wes Craven
offered to host the holiday -- immediately proving that the father of Freddy Krueger and the Scream trilogy certainly knows his way around scary movies. He personally introduces his top selections here, a combination of sheer terror, the frighteningly funny and even a few monsters who won't forget to vote.
Along with curating today's Halloween home page, Wes has collected some rare clips where he appears in front of the camera. He created this haunted Video Vault playlist on his YouTube channel for anyone interested in learning more about his directing and writing career.
So, thanks to Wes Craven, this All Hallow's Eve we all can celebrate our own "Nightmare on YouTube" – and remember: whatever you do, don't fall asleep...
Happy Halloween,
The YouTube Team
In My Name: Last Chance to Join the Video Petition to End Poverty
Thursday, October 30, 2008
A month ago,
we launched "In My Name,"
a global effort to raise awareness around the
United Nations Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and hold world leaders accountable for the promises they made in the year 2000 to end global poverty. The program launched with the help of celebrities like Will.I.Am, Scarlett Johansson, Fergie and John Legend:
Hundreds of you from around the world have already answered the call to action, using YouTube as your platform to urge world leaders to end extreme poverty. Here are a few of the most notable submissions thus far:
If you haven't joined the
"In My Name" campaign
, it's not too late. All you have to do is visit
www.youtube.com/inmyname
and upload a simple video, stating your name, home country, and a message to your government about the need to meet the MDGs.
At the culmination of the program, a mash-up of the most powerful submissions from around the world will be broadcast directly to global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, as proof that global citizens are holding them to their commitment to create a better world for everyone. The mash-up will also be broadcast at YouTube's first-ever live event,
YouTube Live
, on November 22nd.
The deadline to submit your video is November 1. Click
here
now to add your name and tell your leader that promises are meant to be kept.
Sincerely,
Ramya R.
YouTube Nonprofits & Activism
Link To The Best Parts In Your Videos
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Here at YouTube, we still pride ourselves in listening closely to our community and building what you ask for. In this spirit, we are pleased to announce the ability to "deep link" to YouTube videos. This means you can now not only link to a YouTube video itself, but you can also link directly to a specific time within each video. This is something you have been
asking us for and we are happy to deliver.
To create a
deep link
, append the following to the end of a YouTube video URL: #t=1m15s. This says to link to the time 1:15 - you can replace the numbers before the 'm' and the 's' with anything you like.
As an additional bonus, if you mention a specific time in a video comment, e.g. "haha 1:14 is funny", this will become a hyperlink. Viewers can simply click on the time and the video will automatically jump to the point you are referencing. Pretty cool huh?
Leave a comment here or in our
Community Help Forums
to let us know what you think. We'll be reading what you all have to say as we think about ways of making YouTube even better.
The YouTube Team
Help Center Video Submission Results
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
We
challenged
our fabulous community of YouTube experts (that means you) to come up with some creative videos
to accompany a selection of our Help Center
articles
. And...the results are in!
Congratulations to
IceflowStudios
,
KOHPelord
,
rewboss
and
Torley
for their awesome contribution to helping the community
learn more about the following site features:
Adding/Editing a Profile Picture
Using Captions and Subtitles
Making a Playlist
Using Video Annotations
Viewing Higher Quality Videos
Thanks to everyone who submitted a video. If yours was not chosen, or you didn't get a chance to participate this time around, don't fret.
We'll be doing another call for submissions soon...
Stay Tuned,
The YouTube Help Team
Gorillaz Creators take over YouTube's home page with "Monkey"
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
If you can't imagine an ape taking the lead role in a Chinese Opera , then you can't have heard about the new project from the masterminds of virtual alternative music act, The Gorillaz. Their new CD is based on the 21st century production of a Mandarin Opera reinterpreted by Gorillaz creators Damon Albarn (music) and artist Jamie Hewlett (visuals). In celebration of simian-starring project "Monkey: Journey to the West", the duo will premiere their "Monkey Bee" video and curate related featured videos on YouTube's homepage for 24 hours.
Other highlights of this monkey-themed takeover includes a BBC produced
feature-length documentary
on staging the "Monkey: Journey to the West" opera that is currently touring the UK, titled "Damon & Jamie's Excellent Adventure." Damon (also the vocalist behind Blur and The Good Bad & The Queen) and Jamie (co-creator of the comic strip Tank Girl) have recorded a personal introduction describing the additional videos they have selected that relate to the themes and inspirations behind the project, which involves 40 Chinese circus acrobats, martial artists and singers, and an orchestra of both Western and traditional Chinese instruments. See them share the details about puppetry, kung fu, "flying" and their enthusiasm for YouTube here:
Head over to Damon & Jamie's YouTube
channel
for more Mandarin-influenced Monkey madness and enjoy this homepage themed takeover, which links a 16th-century Chinese epic saga with animation, opera and modern music.
Cheers,
Michele K-Tel
YouTube Music
Addressing Youth Violence on YouTube
Monday, October 27, 2008
Like you, we're continually surprised, moved, and entertained by the videos people post on YouTube. And, like you, we're occasionally dismayed when people use YouTube for less positive purposes. That's why we count on you to know our
Community Guidelines
and flag videos you believe don't belong on the site.
We've recently made a change to our flagging menu we think you should know about: We replaced the category "minors fighting" with "youth violence." You can find it in the pull-down menu under "Violent or Repulsive Content," and we'll still follow our usual process of reviewing all flagged videos quickly and removing those that violate our Guidelines.
The reason for this change in language is simple: We want to make it easier for you to help us take down the increasing number of videos showing children involved in violence of some sort, including threats and actual altercations. The "minors fighting" flag simply wasn't being used enough, yet the number of these kinds of videos has been increasing. Now you can more easily flag violent videos that include underage people, and we'll take it from there.
Think of the Guidelines and the flagging pull-down menu as part of our ongoing conversation with you. We give you a structure that makes it easier for you to talk to us, and you become the eyes and ears of the site. Of course, the best conversations are never static, and the same is true about this one. We're always reviewing our Guidelines and the flagging categories to make sure they reflect what you see on the site.
The new flag is part of a larger, continuous effort here at YouTube to keep the community safe for all of our members. But we can't do it alone.
Literally.
With 13 hours of video uploaded every minute, we need you to be our first line of defense against content that violates our Community Guidelines, and we'll keep doing all we can to make doing your part clear and easy.
We're committed to having transparent, effective policies and to helping you understand them through blog posts like this. (If you haven't seen it, check our our
first post
in this series about how to contact us to report abuse.)
Let us know how we're doing and what you think about this new flag. And check back here soon for the next post in our series: How to Flag Videos.
The YouTube Team
YouTube Live TOKYO: All Systems Go
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Today we are pleased to announce that Japan will be hosting its own YouTube Live event on Sunday, November 23, in Tokyo, with the show available to view on the site for an audience across the globe.
After the curtain falls on YouTube Live in San Francisco, YouTube Live TOKYO feat. iQ will kick into gear, featuring a mix of the best that Japan's user community has to offer and performances from topline Asian talent, including a star turn from pop sensation
BoA
.
Tickets for the event are now available for users resident in Japan through the
YouTube Live TOKYO
channel . Attendance is limited to 2,000 and tickets will be allocated on a lottery basis – you'll need to sign up by November 7 if you want to come and enjoy the show.
Stay tuned to
YouTube Live TOKYO
for developments in the line-up. We've got a lot of great acts to unveil between now and the event.
Until then: sayonara!
The YouTube Team
Customize Your YouTube Homepage
Friday, October 24, 2008
We've heard lots of suggestions ever since we launched our new personalized homepage a few months ago. We just launched three of those suggestions to make your personalized homepage even more useful and customizable:
You can now customize the number of videos shown within each section, as well as switch the layout between grid & list views. Want to see more subscription videos or friend actions each time you load your homepage? Just click on the "edit" button in the upper-right corner of each section and get customizing!
Do you use
Insight
to learn how, where, and when your audience watches your videos? Then you'll love the new Insight dashboard you can plug right into your homepage. We have two flavors to choose from: one that showcases which countries your videos are popular in, and another that showcases your videos' traffic over the past few days. Both versions will show which videos of yours are the most popular, as well as alert you to major changes in viewership - so you'll learn when that two-year-old video of you dancing in your room has suddenly made it big. You can turn these on by clicking
"Add / Remove Modules"
at the top of the homepage.
We've cleaned up and upgraded the design to better separate all the different sections - we hope you'll like it.
Want a personalized homepage but don't have an account? Then
sign up
!
Love it? Hate it? Have ideas for other changes? Let us know in the comments or join the discussion in our
Help Forum
.
The YouTube Team
Finding the next Fun, Fearless, Female Music Star through YouTube
Friday, October 24, 2008
Patti Smith, Madonna, Chrissie Hynde, Sleater-Kinney: they're fun, they're female and they definitely rock – but first they had to be found, which is where you come in…
Because while the talent listed above has inspired legions of women to pick up a guitar, a microphone or a set of drum sticks to make their own music, now it's your turn to help kick-start the career of one of 10 semi finalists in
CosmoStarLaunch's
search for a superstar.
These talented 10 represent a dazzling line-up of ability across a wide array of genres -- including pop, country, R&B and plain ol' rock and roll. These ladies do more than just lip sync, all of them submitted original songs to enter the competition. Here is a playlist featuring their efforts to date.
The top three vote-getters will fly to New York City on December 5 to open up for UK artist Natasha Bedingfield and R&B vocalist Solange in a battle-of-the-bands style live performance, after which the overall winner will be named. Go to the CosmoStarLaunch channel for full details and instructions on how to propel your pick into the final round.
Don't delay, deadline for voting is Sunday, November 2. You never know – your vote could help launch the kind of career that music fans will talk about for generations to come.
Get out the Vote,
Michele K-Tel
YouTube Music
T-Minus Two Weeks 'Til Election Day
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
For months you've heard very little on the news but the latest twists and turns of this thrilling - though
everlasting
- presidential race. By now you've seen the
debates
, watched the
campaign commercials
, and
hashed out the issues
with friends. You've had
celebrities
,
athletes
, not to mention
your mom
, telling you about the importance of voting. Finally, the time to cast your ballot has arrived! In a number of states, like Ohio, Iowa, and North Carolina,
early voting
has already begun, and
absentee ballots
are being mailed in from around the world. And two weeks from today, on November 4, millions of Americans will head to the polling place to exercise their democratic right.
To show you just how excited we are about voting in this historic election, we're staging a homepage takeover today of videos all about voting. Learn about the two candidates by watching the full PBS Frontline documentary
"The Choice 2008"
, become an expert on the
electoral college
and exactly how the
electoral process
works, and find out what you need to do to
prepare for Election Day
.
And if you're still undecided, let this
epic dance-off
between the McCainiacs and the Obaminators help you make your choice.
Don't forget to document your voting experience on camera both before and on Election Day, and submit your videos to the
Video Your Vote channel
; a selection of the videos received will be featured on PBS during its election coverage. And make sure to watch this
legal primer
, provided by the
Citizen Media Law Project
, before bringing your video camera to the polls.
Yours,
Olivia M.
YouTube News & Politics
A Behind the Scenes Look at Contacting Us
Monday, October 20, 2008
We've heard some of your concerns around trying to get the assistance you need when having an issue on the site. Our ultimate goal is to keep improving the product so you essentially won't need any help at all. We try our best to keep our
Help Resources
up to date with information about all of our features and policies, in addition to any current product issues or quirks. Most often, the solution to your problem is one that you can resolve on your own rather than contacting someone at YouTube directly.
Please keep in mind that human beings do actually review emails that are sent to us, but if we see the answer to your issue is already listed in the Help Center we may not send a customized response. Many of our help options (listed below) allow you to resolve a problem immediately, rather than wait for a member of our team to respond to your inquiry by email:
First, and most importantly, check out our
Help Center
. The handy search box lets you search for information about YouTube or look up issues across all Google products (as well as the entire Web). Click around and check out the articles. We're constantly adding more content to address site issues, big and small.
Our
Abuse and Policy Center
is a one-stop-shop for resources related to safety and abuse on YouTube. You can browse through articles covering topics like how to deal with spam or gaming, how to control your account settings to limit interactions with certain users, and how to keep yourself generally safe while using the site.
The
YouTube Community Help Forum
is also a great resource. The Forum's discussion board is the official place to share ideas, provide feedback, ask and answer questions, and offer help to your fellow YouTube community members.
If after checking out all these resources you still haven't found exactly the information you're looking for, go ahead and send us an email. If the answer to your question isn't already in our Help Center, we'll do our best to get back to you as soon as we can. Check back in the coming weeks and months for more posts about how to keep your YouTube experience safe, exciting, and always entertaining.
Here for you,
The YouTube Team
Addressing Youth Violence On YouTube
Monday, October 20, 2008
Like you, we're continually surprised, moved, and entertained by the videos people post on YouTube. And, like you, we're occasionally dismayed when people use YouTube for less positive purposes. That's why we count on you to know our
Community Guidelines
and flag videos you believe don't belong on the site.
We've recently made a change to our flagging menu we think you should know about: we replaced the category "minors fighting" with "youth violence". You can still find it in the pull-down menu under "violent or repulsive content," and we'll still follow our usual process of reviewing all flagged videos quickly and removing those that violate our Guidelines.
The reason for this change in language is simple: we want to make it easier for you to help us take down the increasing number of videos showing children involved in violence of any sort, including threats and actual altercations. The "minors fighting" flag simply wasn't being used enough, yet the number of these kind of videos has been increasing. Now you can more easily flag violent videos that include underage people, and we'll take it from there.
Think of the Guidelines and the flagging pull-down menu as part of our ongoing conversation with you. We give you a structure that makes it easier for you to talk to us, and you become the eyes and ears of the site. Of course, the best conversations are never static, and the same is true about this one. We're always reviewing our Guidelines and the flagging categories to make sure they reflect what you see on the site.
The new flag is part of a larger, continuous effort here at YouTube to keep the community safe for all of our members. But we can't do it alone.
Literally.
With 13 hours of video uploaded every minute, we need you to be our first line of defence against inappropriate content, and we'll keep doing all we can to make doing your part clear and easy.
We're committed to having transparent, effective policies and to helping you understand them through blog posts like this. (If you haven't seen it, check our our
first post
in this series about how to contact us to report abuse.)
Let us know how we're doing and what you think about this new flag. And check back here soon for the next post in our series: How to Flag Videos.
The YouTube Team
World Premiere: Wayne Wang's "The Princess Of Nebraska"
Friday, October 17, 2008
Wayne Wang has solidified his reputation as one of the world's pre-eminent Asian-American filmmakers over the past three decades, directing features such as
The Joy Luck Club
,
Smoke
and
Maid in Manhattan
. So it is with great pleasure that we announce today, in partnership with
Cinetic Media
and Magnolia Pictures, the world premiere of his new film,
The Princess of Nebraska
, in the
YouTube Screening Room
.
Along with its recently theatrically-released companion film,
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
,
The Princess of Nebraska
explores issues of Chinese identity in the modern world. Using digital cameras, the film chronicles 24 hours in the life of a young, pregnant Chinese woman as she struggles with the most difficult of decisions.
To celebrate the premiere, we'll also be featuring three shorts from up-and-coming Asian filmmakers in the YouTube Screening Room.
"The Tired City,"
from Hong Kong, is the animated story of a woman pushed to the breaking point by her job. In the
"The Chestnut Tree,"
the director uses hand-drawn animation to recount memories of life with her mother in Korea. Finally, in the Japanese film
"Scab,"
a young student tries to finish his homework, but the giant wound on his tutor's lip is making it a little hard to focus.
One thing to note -- because of distribution restrictions,
The Princess of Nebraska
is only available to users in the United States. Our sincere apologies in advance if this precludes you from watching.
Happy Viewing!
Sara P.
YouTube Film
Keynote Address at the MIPCOM conference, the world's audiovisual content market
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
15 October 2008
- as prepared for delivery -
Thank you.
And I want to thank the organizers of MIPCOM for letting me address all of you today.
I would like to share with you a quick story that many of you may already know.
A small group of innovators introduce a new technology that has the ability to entertain and engage people on a massive scale. Advertisers willing to risk money on this untested platform are hard to come by. Content owners are reluctant to embrace it for fear of alienating their existing audiences. And experts hail this new platform as signaling the demise of another.
As some of you may have guessed, this is not only the story of YouTube. The year is 1941, nearly 70 years ago, and CBS has just launched its new television network amidst cries that it means the death of radio.
From the printing press to the blog, from the record player to the iPod, and from the stage to the home theater, the way content has been produced, distributed and consumed in the world is constantly evolving.
The challenges we face today are not new. Today, my keynote kicks off the digital portion of this conference. I would argue that the difference between this part and the part that preceded it is semantics. We are all - digital or otherwise - confronting the same challenges and we should all be searching together for common solutions. We must embrace this new chapter, as those that came before us embraced theirs 67 years ago.
The digital age has brought with it great change and great challenges; to some it brings the goal of global content distribution closer. For others it represents a loss of control and maybe the loss of a business model. As this era accelerates – as content moves from controlled to distributed, as we migrate from a single platform delivery model to multi-platform delivery, as the world changes around us – we need to ask ourselves: can and will we adapt to this new paradigm? Are we the drivers of change, or will change drive us?
I am here to say that we want to continue to be your partner. We want to continue to work with you – the content owner – to make smarter, more informed decisions about managing and distributing your content. Many of you have already recognized the power of online digital distribution. Companies like CBS, the BBC, HBO, Sony BMG, North One and AFP just to name a few, have already joined us. In fact, yesterday we announced a major partnership with RAI, one of Europe's biggest broadcasters. Italians have been passionately embracing our platform, discussing current affairs and enjoying performances from local talent. With RAI on board, users will be able to watch some of the most popular professional Italian content on their computer screens. And today, we are happy to announce a partnership with European powerhouse Panini. We look forward to working with both companies to provide the online content their audiences are demanding.
For those of you wary of this new, decentralized distribution model, understand that the technology exists to give you the control you need. And by opening your content to digital distribution, as so many content providers have already done, you gain unprecedented reach and scope to touch new audiences around the world, anywhere and anytime. If you embrace this opportunity, you will evolve your business model and find new channels and opportunities to deepen engagement, discover new viewers and find new, substantial revenue opportunities.
Ultimately, we all need to embark on this journey together. We cannot retreat from technological advances. Even if YouTube didn't exist, other platforms would surely be driving this change.
There was a time when a centralized distribution model was relevant and effective. But if you listen to your audience; if you hear what they are telling you; you will understand that the days of the centralized distribution hub are ending. Your audience – today's consumers – want access to content on PCs, TVs, mobile phones and social networking pages. And contrary to what some believe, the internet doesn't take viewers away from traditional broadcast. As the President of NBC Research told the New York Times a few months back: "The Internet hardly cannibalizes; it actually fuels interest." In fact, reacting to a recent Forrester study focused on engaged viewers of online video, executives from ABC, CBS and MTV all agreed that online video was adding to their total viewership rather than taking away from it. So the question before you today is: do you circle ranks and push back against the surge of change? Or, do you open yourselves to the promise and possibilities of globalized content everywhere at anytime on any device?
This world may appear chaotic, but it can be harnessed to your advantage if you're willing to think outside the single platform delivery model. We need to continue to work together and find ways to open your content to the world, and do so with the standards, protections and strategy in place that gives you control and satisfies your audiences. Opening your distribution will give you a greater presence than ever before. And you will be able to manage your content in a way that generates new channels of revenue and taps into emerging and explosive markets, in the same way that companies like CBS and RCA, under the leadership of visionaries like David Sarnoff, did so many decades ago.
This new world is not without its challenges. The concerns that some of you have are very real. Does digital distribution mean that you lose control? What about the quality of online content? Does the digital distribution model make sense? These are all valid and familiar questions.
The truth is that the long-anticipated convergence of TV and the computer is happening faster than anybody predicted. It’s happening now. Let's look at just a few data points on this:
Around 10 billion videos are viewed monthly online in the U.S. alone
On YouTube 13 hours of content are uploaded every minute
The number of people consuming video on their PCs is higher than ever before
In France over 120 million hours of video content is watched per month while over 3 million mobile phone subscribers use their phone to view a video
So online video is here to stay and evolving faster and in more dynamic ways than anyone imagined, even a few years ago. As for the business questions: the market potential of online video distribution may be in its early stages, but it’s here and growing fast.
The online video advertising market is set to be worth over a billion dollars by 2010, will reach over $3 billion by 2012, and over $5 billion by 2013
People want solutions for searching, discovering, watching, and interacting with video. And you, as content providers, are looking for new audiences and new revenue channels. Given these demands, how can we take advantage of this massive market opportunity?
Let's recognize that video captures the visceral, dynamic quality in life and shares it with the world. This has driven YouTube’s exponential growth in the last two years. Again, 13 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s the equivalent of Hollywood releasing more than 57,000 full-length movies every week. Hundreds of millions of people come to YouTube every month to search, discover and share this content with their friends.
For you, the content owners, online video provides big opportunities across the 4 Rs: Reach, Research, Revenue, and Rights Management
First, online video provides massive and targeted reach to hundreds of millions of viewers. And we're making those videos and communities even easier to discover. Online video also provides content owners with an opportunity to extend their brand, reach new consumers, and tap new revenue opportunities, which I'll discuss later. For this group, online video provides the benefit of longer viewer engagement with greater frequency across multiple channels.
In August of this year the International Olympic Committee launched nine Channels on YouTube. Through our platform, the IOC offered this year's Summer Olympic Games to a truly global audience across 78 territories in Asia, Africa and the Middle East for the first time in Olympic history. Hundreds of millions of people around the world were able to engage and experience the Olympics online, many of whom never had never had the opportunity to see the Games on their televisions. All of this took place while NBC, the broadcaster that owned the rights to the Olympics in the US, effectively used our Video ID technology to monitor and quickly block copyrighted Olympic content uploaded to the site.
Second, research provides a new breed of analytic tools that dive into who, why and where your content is being watched.
The products and features being developed by online video providers continue to evolve. For example, the American rock bank Weezer launched their music video "Pork and Beans" on YouTube resulting in over 4 million views in just two days. Using our sophisticated analytics tool, the band was able to then get an in-depth look at the video's views. This data provided an online focus group of sorts, enabling them to prepare more effective and powerful marketing campaigns. It even helped Weezer understand where their videos were being watched and then plan their upcoming tour.
And third, global distribution and analytics tools give advertisers and content owners fresh channels of revenue on new and existing forms of content. Advertisers want simplicity with reach. Online video does this by combining reach beyond TV, with the targeting, reporting and accountability of sophisticated online advertising tools and analytics. Online video began as a playground for advertisers where they could test ideas, drive brand awareness and create consumer engagement through clever viral video campaigns. In the current economic climate, this platform also provides advertisers with an affordable distribution channel and metrics to help gauge the success of a campaign and drive engagement numbers up.
As some of you may have heard, last week we announced a groundbreaking deal with CBS to test full-length feature programming on YouTube. We also designed a new video player to provide the best possible user experience when watching this long-form content. With nearly 80,000 subscribers in their Channel and 250 million views, CBS has received a strong, positive response from the YouTube community around the quality of its programming. Under the terms of this latest deal, CBS has added more than eight full-length shows to their Channel, complementing the more than 9,000 short-form videos already available. CBS will be selling its own advertising inventory on YouTube. This arrangement allows CBS to aggregate their ad inventory across the web to increase their reach and levergae the strength of their sales force.
An then there's the fourth "R". And I wouldn't want you to think I've forgotten that one. Of course, I'm talking about rights and rights management. From the very beginning, we've been committed to working with content owners to make sure YouTube remains a platform for distribution, not unauthorized uploads. In fact, over 300 media companies, including NBC, RAI, Formula One, the Olympics and Lionsgate are using innovative products like YouTube’s Video Identification tool to better manage their presence on our site. Along with the other tools in our Content management system, Video ID helps content owners decide whether to block, promote, or even generate revenue from their content.
The European Commissioner for information, society and media, Vivian Reding, recently hailed YouTube as a great example of how content producers and service providers can work to benefit each other through our Video Identification technology, saying: "The Youtube platform tells the rights owner if his content has been uploaded to Youtube. He then has a choice: leave it up as it is, add advertising - thus monetizing the content- or requesting that the content be taken down." I couldn't have said it better myself. And we will remain committed to introducing these types of protections tools in the future.
Ultimately, the online video experience is about empowerment. Consumers of online video are empowered to be their own content programmers, consuming the relevant mix of mass, niche and personal media they demand. Advertisers are empowered through data to better understand and engage with their audiences. And content owners are empowered, through sophisticated identification tools, to control their content and make smart business decisions with their content.
The proliferation of content will continue exponentially. And as methods for uploading, aggregating, personalizing and distributing digital content develop, content owners will find new challenges and business opportunities. Spurred by technological innovation, people are already looking beyond their laptops to upload, customize and distribute content from and to any device.
Video content delivered to mobile devices will open consumers, advertisers and content creators to a world of opportunity. Everything from movie watching and sharing to hyper-targeting and dynamic, interactive, location-relevant ads are emerging within the mobile market. As the Web grows, so will videos’ presence in it. Accelerated by the power of embeddable video, developers will find new, innovative ways to push the boundaries of how ads are served and watched online. And the jump from the desktop to the TV, or the phone to the TV, or the camera to the TV, will all become seamless.
Gaining control of online video content and discovering effective business models are vital not only for our growth, but for our common survival. Online video is already fully integrated into the fabric of the Web – its presence is universal, inspiring and empowering to all that embrace it. In the very near future, the distribution of online video will soon cease to be seen as a threat, but rather as a fundamental distribution solution that can be personalized on desktops, phones and tv's alike.
Where we are today is not the YouTube era. It is not the digital content era, or the multi-platform era. Where we are today is an extension of the work you have all done, built on the shoulders of CBS, RCA and the other innovators who came before us. There is no old media. There is no new media. There is one media with one common purpose: to inform, move and inspire the world through information, art and entertainment. Together, we can find a solution that will benefit everyone in this ecosystem, from consumers to advertisers to the content owners alike.
Thank you very much.
YOUTUBE, PBS ASK AMERICANS TO "VIDEO YOUR VOTE"
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
San Bruno, CA and Arlington, VA – October 15, 2008 –-
YouTube, the leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos, has partnered with PBS to empower American voters to upload their Election Day voting experiences to YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com/videoyourvote)
.
The initiative educates voters on the entire process and a wide array of issues associated with voting in America, while enabling the world to watch pivotal moments in this historic election as they unfold. In the first presidential election since YouTube's inception, this program aims to gather massive amounts of polling place video, with the Channel serving as an online library for Election Day footage.
"Voters have documented each step of the 2008 election on YouTube and this phenomenon will culminate on November 4 as people head to the polls to determine the forty-fourth President of the United States," said Steve Grove, YouTube's head of news and politics. "This partnership with PBS, an organization known for offering rich perspectives, will help voters examine all aspects of voting from the registration processes, to reforms, to technology and election administration, to the actual casting of ballots."
Starting today, registered United States voters can share their voting experiences via the
Video Your Vote YouTube Channel
. On November 4, the Channel will serve as the premier online destination for up-to-the-minute coverage from voters contributing videos straight from thousands of precincts across the country.
Some of the best videos will be showcased on PBS television, as part of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer's Election Day broadcast. They may also be used throughout PBS' election coverage, both on-air and online. YouTube users are asked to tag all of their Election Day videos "videoyourvote". Events, for instance, that hinder the voting process should be tagged, "pollproblem". These videos, as well as those documenting the spectrum of the entire voting process, will be easy to find on the Channel and analysts from PBS' political team will then review some of them and offer commentary on how the election played out.
"This program takes the best of PBS and The NewsHour, our editorial reputation and broadcast reach, and combines it with YouTube's tremendous online video community to share polling place footage from Maine to California and everywhere in between for all to see," said Judy Woodruff, senior correspondent and political editor of The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer. "This is the YouTube election, and we're thrilled to be a part of it."
In addition, YouTube and PBS will distribute 1,000 Flip Video(tm) camcorders through Pure Digital Technologies, Inc.'s Flip Video Spotlight Program so that participating non-partisan nonprofit groups and local PBS stations across the country can also capture polling place activity.
"By providing a way for local-level voters to 'video your vote' YouTube, PBS and our local stations will empower thousands of people across the country to take an active — and personal — role in the democratic process," said Jason Seiken, senior vice president, PBS Interactive.
As Election Day excitement rises to a boil, people are encouraged to visit the Video Your Vote channel to view exclusive videos from: BlackBoxVoting.org, Center for Governmental Studies, Citizen Media Law Project, Common Cause, HowCast.com, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, People for the American Way Foundation, Rock the Vote, Video the Vote, Why Tuesday? and more.
Some states and counties have regulations against the use of recording equipment at polling places on Election Day. YouTube and PBS remind voters to please check with individual polling places on rules and regulations - more information can be found on the Video Your Vote channel.
About PBS
PBS, with its 356 member stations, offers all Americans – from every walk of life – the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each week, PBS reaches more than 65 million people and invites them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; hear diverse viewpoints; and take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS' broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry's most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS' premier children's TV programming and Web site,
pbskids.org
, are parents' and teachers' most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at
www.pbs.org
, one of the leading dot-org Web sites on the Internet.
Get unparalleled reporting and analysis from the full "PBS Vote 2008" election line-up, including programs like The Newshour With Jim Lehrer, Frontline, Now on PBS, Bill Moyers' Journal, Tavis Smiley and Washington Week, offering Americans a unique opportunity to explore the Presidential elections and make an informed vote. In addition, PBS.org's election hub page,
pbs.org/vote2008
, will provide further perspectives. The site aggregates video from PBS, features syndicatable content from across public media and highlights innovative Web-only projects from PBS producers and stations.
An Invitation to Video Your Vote
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
In less than three weeks, one of the most exciting presidential campaigns in history will come to head and millions of voters from every state in the nation will set out for the polls to cast their ballots. On November 4, we invite you to document your experiences on Election Day and share them with the world here on YouTube.
Today, in partnership with
PBS
, YouTube presents
Video Your Vote
, a project designed to shed light on voting in America and show democracy in action through the eyes of voters like you by sharing what you experience on Election Day. We're looking for perspectives from polling places across the country that chronicle the excitement and energy at the polls, as well as any problems that may arise -- like long lines or broken voting machines -- that could prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote.
Hear more from Judy Woodruff of the
News Hour with Jim Lehrer
:
Some of the best videos uploaded to the
Video Your Vote channel
will be showcased on PBS in the course of the station's election coverage. Be sure to tag all of your election day videos with the tag "videoyourvote" -- and if you witness or encounter anything problematic at the polls that is hindering the voting process, add the tag "pollproblem" so your video can be easily found.
From now until Election Day, Video Your Vote will be your go-to destination to learn all about voting. Here you'll find interviews with the world's most knowledgeable
election experts
,
in-depth reports
on this year's election and elections past, and
creative "Get Out the Vote" videos
from some of YouTube's champions of democracy.
Ready to see first-hand how the people get to have their say in the political process?
It's time to jump in and
Video Your Vote
.
Yours,
Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics
YouTube Response Letter to Senator McCain
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Dear Mr. Potter:
Thank you for your thoughtful letter dated October 13, 2008. We are very happy about the extent to which the McCain-Palin campaign and, indeed, all of the presidential campaigns, are using YouTube as a platform to reach out to Americans in this critical election year.
Your letter raises important issues relating to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that directly affect the YouTube community. As your letter acknowledges, the DMCA provides a statutory safe harbor for service providers such as YouTube that host content at the direction of users. Without this safe harbor, sites like YouTube could not exist. To strike the proper balance between rights holders and content uploaders, Congress had the foresight to implement a notice-and-takedown regime that allows rights holders to submit takedown notices for uploaded content that the rights holders believe infringes their rights. If service providers remove the content in response to a notice, they maintain their safe harbor and avoid potential copyright infringement liability. If, on the other hand, service providers do not remove the content in response to such notice, they do so at their own risk because they lose their safe harbor.
The DMCA protects content uploaders from erroneous or abusive takedown notices in two distinct ways. First, it allows uploaders to file a counter-notification in response to a takedown notice they believe to have been made in error. Once the uploader files a counter-notification, the statute allows the service provider to reinstate the content after a waiting period of 10 business days without jeopardizing its safe harbor, provided that the rights owner does not file a copyright infringement lawsuit against the content uploader during that waiting period. Second, Section 512(f) of the DMCA allows parties injured by fraudulent takedowns to sue the claimant for damages.
Despite penalties of perjury, the counter-notification process and the very real possibility of lawsuits for damages, some parties still abuse the DMCA takedown process and seek the removal of content that does not infringe their rights. Because of the DMCA's structure, an abusive takedown notice may result in the restriction of non-infringing speech during the statutory 10-day waiting period. We recognize this potential for abuse, and have a number of measures in place to combat it. Indeed, we have spent numerous hours tracking down abuse, terminating offending accounts and reinstating affected videos. See, e.g., the EFF's blog post at
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/09/youtube-anti-scientology-takedowns-good-news-bad-n-0
describing one such case. While we have successfully reduced the amount of abuse, we have not eliminated it.
Some have suggested that YouTube mitigate abuse by performing a substantive legal review of every DMCA notice we receive prior to processing a takedown. For a number of reasons, this is not a viable solution. As you recognize in your letter, a detailed substantive review of every DMCA notice is simply not possible due to the scale of YouTube's operations. Any such review would have to include a determination of whether a particular use is a "fair use" under the law, which is a complex and fact-specific test that requires the subjective balancing of four factors. Lawyers and judges constantly disagree about what does and does not constitute fair use. No number of lawyers could possibly determine with a reasonable level of certainty whether all the videos for which we receive disputed takedown notices qualify as fair use.
More importantly, YouTube does not possess the requisite information about the content in user-uploaded videos to make a determination as to whether a particular takedown notice includes a valid claim of infringement. The claimant and the uploader, not YouTube, hold all of the relevant information in this regard, including the actual source of any content used, the ownerships rights to that content, and any licensing arrangements in place between the parties. YouTube is a merely an intermediary in this exchange, and does not have direct access to this critical information. When two parties disagree, we are simply not in a position to verify the veracity of either party’s claims.
Your suggestion that we limit our reviews and fair use analysis to "political candidates and campaigns" attempts to address our scale issue, but it does not address the information problem mentioned above. The fact remains that we do not know who owns what content included in user uploaded videos, who uploaded those videos or what authorization the uploader may or may not have to use the content. Moreover, while we agree with you that the U.S. Presidential election-related content is invaluable and worthy of the highest level of protection, there is a lot of other content on our global site that our users around the world find to be equally important, including, by way of example only, political campaigns from around the globe at all levels of government, human rights movements, and other important voices. We try to be careful not to favor one category of content on our site over others, and to treat all of our users fairly, regardless of whether they are an individual, a large corporation or a candidate for public office.
The real problem here is individuals and entities that abuse the DMCA takedown process. You and our other content uploaders can play a critical role in helping us to address this difficult problem of takedown abuse. You are operating from the position of strength, with knowledge of exactly where the content in your videos came from. You can file counter-notifications. You can seek retractions of abusive takedown notices. You can hold abusive claimants publicly accountable for their actions by publicizing their actions. You can hold claimants legally responsible for their actions by filing a lawsuit under 512(f). We believe that with your vigilance and efforts in these areas, we can go a long way towards minimizing abusive takedown behavior.
On a final note, we hope that as a content uploader you have gained a sense of some of the challenges we face everyday in operating YouTube. We look forward to working with Senator (or President) McCain on ways to combat abuse of the DMCA takedown process on YouTube, including, by way of example, strengthening the fair use doctrine, so that intermediaries like us can rely on this important doctrine with a measure of business certainty.
Thank you again for your thoughtful letter and concern about this important challenge.
Very Truly Yours,
Zahavah Levine
Chief Counsel, YouTube
Fashion Guru Challenge with Isaac Mizrahi
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Spring Fashion Weeks may have ended but for some the desire to see inspiring style still lingers. Top designer
Isaac Mizrahi
always has fashion on the brain and is looking for creative style here on YouTube. He wants to see if our community can turn a fashion basic into something jaw dropping.
So take out an old pair of jeans and a white t-shirt and create a look that shows off your skills. Post a response video that really stands out and you may find your design on the guru challenge channel or on the home page.
Create and Inspire!
Sadia H.
YouTube HowTo & Style
Hungry for more? YouTube now serving full-length TV dinners
Friday, October 10, 2008
We are starting to test full-length programming on YouTube, beginning with some fan favorites requested by you. Let's see if you know your full-length TV ...
You asked to be beamed up with
Scotty
, to devise a
world-saving weapon
using only gum and paperclips, and to get your grub on at
"The Peach Pit"
. So we're giving you full-length episodes of these shows and many others.
These shows will be available in the new Theater View style we rolled out earlier this week, which provides optimal experience for watching full-length programming
on your computer. Our new full-length format, in conjunction with the launch of our new player, marks an exciting milestone for YouTube as we continue our efforts to expand user choice and improve viewer experience.
As we test this new format, we also want to ensure that our partners have more options when it comes to advertising on their full-length TV shows. You may see in-stream video ads (including pre-, mid- and post-rolls) embedded in some of these episodes; this advertising format will only appear on premium content where you are most comfortable seeing such ads. In order to make this clear to you, we've labeled all full-length videos with a Film Strip symbol (
)
so you'll know exactly what kind of content you're choosing to watch and what ads you might see. (To see an example of the badge on search results, click
here.
)
So if watching the newest installment of "Beverly Hills 90210" has you nostalgic for your favorite Brenda and Brandon moments, or if you're counting the days until the "Star Trek" movie release, you can watch your favorite TV on YouTube.
The YouTube Team
Today's Guest Editor: A Witness and His Testimony
Friday, October 10, 2008
James Nachtwey has spent his life documenting some of the
most pressing conflicts, wars and critical social issues of our time
, but today takes on the comparatively safe task of guest editing the YouTube homepage. Since his first assignment covering the troubles in Northern Ireland in 1981 – at the height of the IRA hunger strikes -- he has traveled from the West Bank to Rwanda and from Bosnia to Afghanistan, raising awareness of the human impact of the situations he encountered in the click of a shutter.
In 2007, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to society, Nachtwey was awarded the
TED Prize
: $100,000 to realize 'one wish' to change the world.
He opted
to "break a story that the world needs to know about in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age." Following this he spent 18 months documenting the ramifications and rapid spread of "extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis" (XDR-TB). Learn more about his undertaking here:
For more on why the photographer chose to launch a global awareness campaign about TB, see his special message to the YouTube community:
As today's guest editor, Nachtwey has selected compelling examples from other YouTube users that exhibit the power of film to relate a story and spread the word. These YouTube users -- by turning their cameras on subjects like the
conflict in Africa
, the
human rights violations in Myanmar
, and the
HIV crisis in rural America
-- are following Nachtwey's lead and, ultimately, are changing the world through the force of their efforts and film-making expertise.
Here's to them – and making wishes come true,
Ramya R.
YouTube Nonprofits & Activism
Your Money: Your YouTube
Thursday, October 9, 2008
With the economy foremost in the minds of almost everyone from Wall Street to Main Street, the
YourMoney
channel, in association with Bank of America, is YouTube's one-stop destination for expert financial insight. Whether you are looking for a high-level perspective on the state of today's financial system, investing tips, or just advice on managing credit card debt and balancing your check book, you'll find a range of useful and topical videos in one place.
Along with giving you some of the best financial content out there, YourMoney enables you to do some financial tracking of your own. A customizable Google Finance gadget has been added to the channel that tracks the performance of the market and your portfolio, offering you an up-to-date financial hub on YouTube. Check back often as our partner channels are regularly reporting on new financial developments and offering tips for the money-savvy investor. So watch, engage and learn as the YourMoney channel continues to stay abreast of the developing financial stories that matter most.
Yours,
The YouTube Team
YOUTUBE UNVEILS ECOMMERCE PLATFORM
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – October 7, 2008 –
YouTube, the leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos, today announced a collaboration with iTunes and Amazon.com that offers the YouTube community direct access to buy and download music, games, and other products with a few clicks of a mouse. This is a first step to building a broader eCommerce platform for content partners and users on YouTube.
The YouTube eCommerce Platform will be rolled out on a larger scale over the coming months to allow partners across all industries including music, film, TV, and publishing to generate additional revenue from their content beyond the advertising we serve against their videos. Just as YouTube users can share, favorite, comment on, and respond to videos with a single click, now users can click-to-buy products -- like songs, books and movies -- related to the content they're watching on the site.
“YouTube content partners now have the ability to promote and monetize their content in a new and exciting way and create a deeper distribution channel for their content online,” said Chad Hurley, co-founder and CEO, YouTube. “Our goal is to improve the overall YouTube experience by connecting consumers with relevant information and entertaining content. The addition of retail links will enhance the viewing experience and allow people to engage more deeply with the content they want to consume.”
“Amazon.com is always looking for new ways to make discovering and buying products as convenient as possible for our customers, which is why we’re excited to collaborate with YouTube,” said Scott Merlino, Senior Manager, Amazon Associates Program (Amazon’s affiliate marketing program). “Now in the context of the YouTube experience visitors will be able to discover and purchase products from Amazon.com that are relevant to the content they are viewing.”
Non-obtrusive retail links to buy songs from iTunes and Amazon.com will appear on the watch pages of authorized video content from companies such as EMI Music. YouTube users watching music videos from their favorite artists will be able to click on buttons that link to the corresponding pages on iTunes and Amazon MP3 where they can buy and download that music. Those partners who use YouTube’s content identification and management system can also enable retail links on claimed videos that they choose to leave up on the site.
The YouTube eCommerce Platform is currently available in the United States. Over the coming months, the platform will be expanded internationally.
The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of 8.5 million songs, over 30,000 TV episodes and over 2,500 films including 600 in stunning high definition video. With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.
Amazon MP3 is Amazon.com’s digital music store that offers over 6 million DRM-free MP3 songs from all four major music labels and thousands of independent labels that can be played on virtually any hardware device and managed with any music software.
Like What You See? Then Click-to-Buy on YouTube
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
When you view a YouTube video with a great soundtrack, you often see comments from YouTube users asking about the name of the song and where they can download it. Or when users watch the trailer for an upcoming video game, they want to know when it will be released and where they can buy it.
Today, we're taking our first steps to providing YouTube users with this kind of instant gratification, by adding "click-to-buy" links to the watch pages of thousands of YouTube partner videos. Click-to-buy links are non-obtrusive retail links, placed on the watch page beneath the video with the other community features. Just as YouTube users can share, favorite, comment on, and respond to videos quickly and easily, now users can click-to-buy products -- like songs, books, and movies -- related to the content they're watching on the site. We're getting started by embedding iTunes and Amazon.com links on videos from companies like
EMI Music
, and providing Amazon.com product links to the newly released video game Spore(TM) on videos from
Electronic Arts
.
This is just the beginning of building a broad, viable eCommerce platform for users and partners on YouTube. Our vision is to help partners across all industries -- from music, to film, to print, to TV -- offer useful and relevant products to a large, yet targeted audience, and generate additional revenue from their content on YouTube beyond the advertising we serve against their videos. And those partners who use our content identification and management system can also enable these links on user-generated content, by using Content ID to
claim videos
and choose to leave them up on the site.
These retail links are being gradually added to our library of music videos and are currently only available to users in the United States, but our goal is to slowly but surely expand the program to additional content and product partners, as well as our international users. We'll be experimenting with the UI over time to make sure this works for our community, and we'll continue to innovate based on your feedback. We're just getting started, so stay tuned for other innovative new features and product options soon.
Have fun,
The YouTube Team
Dubya Stars in The YouTube Screening Room
Friday, October 3, 2008
Two weeks ago, we announced
Lionsgate's
sponsorship of the
YouTube Screening Room
-- our platform for premium film content from around the world -- with a line-up of religious satires in honor of Bill Maher and Larry Charles'
"Religulous"
, which opened in theaters today.
Now it's our great pleasure to bring you a round of films that examine the real lives of real people in conjunction with Oliver Stone's highly anticipated
"W."
, a biopic of the 43rd President of the United States, in theaters October 17.
In this line-up, you'll see the Academy Award-winning documentary,
"Thoth"
, a chronicle of the life of S.K. Thoth, one of America's greatest street performers;
"Heavy Metal Jr."
, a hilarious and heartwarming documentary, nominated for a BAFTA, following the Irish heavy metal band, Hatred (and its 13-year-old members!), as they prepare for their first gig ever;
"Peter and Ben"
, a touching documentary about the unbreakable bond between two 'black sheep,' which won the Aspen Shortsfest this year; and
"Great White Hunters"
, winner of a Tropfest Comedy Award, about a group of friends who have made a hobby of hunting the world's greatest hunter.
Also, if you haven't done so already, be sure to submit your video to the
"W."
trailer mash-up contest, accepting entries through October 17.
Enjoy the films,
Sara P.
YouTube Film
Register to vote: Deadlines looming!
Friday, October 3, 2008
The U.S. presidential election is just over a month away, but you won't be able to exercise your right to vote on November 4 unless you've first registered to vote. And those deadlines are approaching fast - in many states, the deadline is next Monday, October 6.
How do you find out where to register? Google has created a great maps platform into which you can type in your home address and get information on where to register in your state - you can find it at
maps.google.com/vote
.
If you want to learn more about this easy-to-use platform, see
this video
made by our friends at Google, which we're currently featuring on the Worldwide homepage. We're also featuring two more voter registration videos -- one was shot by
Leonardo DiCaprio and friends
, especially for the Google Maps platform launch, and the second comes from YouTube's own
Citizen Kate
, who participated in the
"Voter Vlog Tag" project
, a YouTube community project started by
JoeFelice
that aims to get YouTubers to tag each other with the task of getting their friends to register to vote.
Keep your eyes peeled for the creative ways YouTube users are utilizing the site to encourage you to vote, and make sure to get out and register NOW on
Google's new platform
! And as always, stay on top of the latest election news directly from the candidates on our
You Choose '08
platform.
Yours,
Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics
YouTube Comes Alive With YouTube Live
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Today we announced YouTube Live, a celebration of the vibrant communities that exist on the site, to be held on November 22 in San Francisco and streamed for a potential worldwide audience of millions.
YouTube users have been gathering informally for years, but this is the first time that YouTube is officially leaping off screens for an event unlike any other. With live performances, celebrity guests, original videos, surprise collaborations and much more, the event will mix elements of a concert, variety show and party, with YouTube phenomena always at the core. Here's a idea of what to expect:
Go to
www.youtube.com/live
for all the latest news on the event, including a list of who's already onboard to appear, and to take our survey, which is your chance to tell us what you would expect from an event like this. (You can also leave a comment below or on the video above, or post a video response to that clip.) The channel will also contain information on how to apply for tickets to attend the event in San Francisco.
You'll be hearing from us a lot more about YouTube Live between now and November 22, so stay tuned to our channel, this blog and, naturally, the videos on the site talking about the event. Finally, we'd like to thank sponsors Activision, Lionsgate and Virgin America for helping to make YouTube Live possible.
Yours,
The YouTube Team
Register to vote: Deadlines coming fast!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The U.S. presidential election is just over a month away, but you won't be able to exercise your right to vote on November 4th unless you've first registered to vote. And those deadlines are approaching fast - in many states, the deadline is next Monday, October 6th.
How do you find out where to register? Our friends at Google have created a great maps platform where you can type in your home address and get information on where to register in your state - you can find it at maps.google.com/vote.
To bring attention to this easy-to-use platform, a merry cast of celebrities just released a video we're featuring on our homepage.
From now through next Monday, we'll be featuring a different "register to vote" video on our homepage. So keep your eyes out for the creative ways YouTubers are using the site to remind you to vote, and make sure to get out an register yourself on Google's new platform!
Yours,
Steve G.
YouTube News & Politics
Your Money, Your YouTube
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Get a better handle on your finances with a collection of smart, sound videos on the
Your Money
channel, which launches today.
With the markets in the headlines every day, people are seeking out more information on every subject from financial markets to personal finance and tips on debt management. Presented with
Bank of America
,
Your Money
is a one-stop shop for content from some of the most respected names in the world of financial reporting -- and some of the YouTube channels that deliver smart advice on how to get your own financial world into better shape.
Whether you want more info on managing credit card balances, some investing tips or a new way to balance your budget, you'll find info you can use in one place. You can even track stocks in the Your Money stock ticker. Check back often: our partner channels are always reporting on new financial developments and coming up with new tips for the money-savvy user. We'll be adding more videos every week, so you can watch
Your Money
grow over time.
Yours,
The YouTube Team
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