YouTube.com Market Share
March 9, 2010
Fast Company ran a snippet in its March 8, 2010 “Today in Most Innovative Companies” column that provides some information about YouTube.com’s market share. Here are the highlights that I marked:
- 40 percent market share (comScore data)
- 12.8 billion videos “compared with Hulu’s 903 million”. (I know this is ambiguous but the delta is interesting)
- Viewers watch 93 videos per month on YouTube.com. Hulu viewers was 23 videos per month.
What’s with Google and video? Is it another missed opportunity like Google’s social media efforts? a similar theme appears in “Nexus One’s Biggest challenge Isn’t iPhone; It’s Google’s Online Only Sales Model?” Frisky stuff.
Stephen E Arnold, March 10, 2010
No one paid me to document these three items. Because I mention television, I think of Newton Minnow, so I will report this lack of payment to Fish & Wildlife. I wonder if Fish & Wildlife are responsible for “vast wastelands”?
Google and Rich Media Intent
March 1, 2010
Google’s YouTube.com has traffic, but it is not a revenue home run. In fact, Google provides no detailed numbers about YouTube.com’s financials. Clicking around YouTube.com, one of the traffic magnets on the Internet, ads are appearing but the Google overlays can be intrusive. The lion’s share of Google’s revenue comes from AdSense and AdWords. Neither YouTube.com nor Google’s enterprise services are revenue hat tricks yet.
As one of the top five Web sites on the Internet, Google seems to be at a loss to make YouTube.com a money machine like AdWords and AdSense.
Is Google indifferent to YouTube.com, its costs, and its lackluster advertising performance? The answer is a qualified “no.” Google’s been interested in video for years.
On February 23, 2010, the United States Patent & Trademark Office granted Google a patent for its smart software video segmenting invention. The patent’s title is clearer than some of Google’s patent documents. “Deconstructing Electronic Media Stream into Human Recognizable Portions” (US7668610) understates the Google invention.
Google’s smart software watches videos and listens to music. The system figures out segments that make sense to a human. The method indexes the video and tags it so each piece carries an identifier. These chunks can be dealt out to Google’s servers and then delivered via Google’s content delivery network to users.
The technology disclosed in this patent document is industrial strength, and it may be beyond the reach of companies with a more successful rich media business. The technology, which few companies can match today, was developed in 2005, maybe as early as 2004.
US7668610, filed on November 2005, operates at Google scale. Google’s smart software can chop up audio and video into logical segments, index them, and tag with unique identifiers. But the most impressive function in the patent is that as the system operates, it learns.
Google has dozens of patents and applications that bear directly on rich media. With the cost of research and legal fees, Google’s rich media inventions make clear that Google is serious about video.
With years of investment and the efforts of some of the world’s brightest engineers, why is Google making little apparent progress? The Sundance test allowed YouTube.com users a way to pay to view a handful of independent films, screened at the Sundance Festival earlier this year. Then nothing.
Our research reveals that Google has a rich media push underway. Like its earlier foray into telecommunications, Google moves slowly.
There are some interesting signals that Google’s activity in rich media is increasing. Vizio, a manufacturer of flat panel televisions, is now advertising that YouTube.com can be watched on Internet-capable Vizios. At the Computer Electronics Show, one company showed a Google set top box running Android (Google’s mobile operating system) with a personalized program guide. In Barcelona, tablets running Android were spotted by those with a nose for the novel gizmo.
Is Google going to be late to the rich media party? Google has mishandled its social media service, Orkut. The new Google Buzz triggered a landslide of criticism from those offended by Google’s exposing information without users’ permission. Now Google faces push back from the Department of Justice in the US about Google Books and possible antitrust trouble from the European Union.
Music and video are big business. Just look at Apple’s revenues from its integrated hardware, software, online retailing operation. Walmart paid $100 million for service that can stream HD videos.
Where’s Google? Visible but lacking the money-spinning angle like a theater owner who sells high-margin soft drinks and popcorn.
Stephen E Arnold, March 1, 2010
Nope, a freebie. No one paid me to write about video. I think that means I have to report non payment to the FCC. Consider it done.
SSN Minute about Facebook Available
February 25, 2010
The SSN Minute, which runs two minutes and four seconds this week is available on the Strategy Social Networking Web log. Just click on the SSN Minute logo. The topic is “Will Facebook Be Able to Stand the Legal Heat?’” SSN believes that Facebook may be the next big, successful company to come under increased legal scrutiny. The headlines are going to Google’s current legal troubles, but Facebook may find itself next in line. Can Facebook deal with this new business challenge. Tune in to find out the SSN team’s view. SSN provides readers with bite-sized information nuggets about the use of social networks to father one’s business, brand, or career. The information service features original stories and summaries of important contributions from other organizations. ArnoldIT.com owns the SSN Blog.
Donald Anderson, February 25, 2010
Mr. Anderson is paid to work on the SSN Minute.
Google and Screwups
February 24, 2010
PCWorld is certainly getting frisky. The story “2010 Is Becoming the Year of Google Screwups.” The article written by Robert X. Cringely is going to get lots of clicks. Even the addled goose exercises goose judgment when writing about Googzilla. For example, I wanted to cover the Google mistress article, but I had a tough time figuring out how to hook search into the story.
Not PCWorld. For me, the most interesting point was:
So far, 2010 is shaping up to be the year Google discovered it had feet of clay — and those feet have been spending a lot of time in Google’s mouth.
The Screwups article provides a particularly useful discussion of Google and its handling of copyright violation claims. MBAs are going to love this write up.
In my view, the year is young.
Stephen E Arnold, February 24, 2010
No one paid me to write this. Because of the reference to copyright, I will alert the Copyright Office that I am working like a beaver chewing down potentially useful raw material for paper suitable for ink jet use.
The Southwest, Smith, Social Media Storm Front
February 18, 2010
Beyond Search does not cover the social media space. Our companion Web log, Strategic Social Networking, does. You can view our new Social Media video by navigating to http://ssnblog.com and clicking on the video graphi or click the logo below:
The subject of this week’s two minute video is the storm front triggered by the interaction of Southwest Airlines, movie director Kevin Smith, and social media. Our take? Quite a mess, and most organizations are powerless because social media is moving more quickly than management. We had two emails about the carved bird featured in the video. That’s the inspiration for the SSNBlog’s logo… a social and technical term (you know, one of those social birds that flock near your restaurant table in Cassis).
Okay, I paid myself with money from my own pocket to write about my video. I am not sure how this disclosure of self compensation strikes you, but I think Ralph Waldo Emerson would probably have whipped up one of his exciting essays were he alive and fresh from penning “Compensation.” I think this type of payment to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That outfit understands zeros.
Comcast, The Platform
February 17, 2010
I just got off the phone with a person who wanted to know if I had information about the “finding and search” system used in Comcast’s Web TV publishing system. I told the caller to give another person a call. I don’t know much about Comcast beyond its owning NBC and the management gaffes visible in the Jay Leno – Conan incident.
I turned to another matter, but I decided to poke around and see what Comcast is doing in TV publishing. What surprised me was that the company has a unit called “ThePlatform”, which is an online video service. The idea is that a person in charge of a program – what I call a TV show – can use ThePlatform to transform the TV show for gizmos like the forthcoming iPad.
I located a news story in Multi Channel called “Comcast’s ThePlatform Overhauls Video System with MPX.” In the write up, this passage jumped out:
Billed as the biggest revamping in ThePlatform’s 10-year history, MPX — released initially in a “beta” version — includes a new console for managing video assets; a way to automate processes to publish large video libraries across the Web, mobile devices and set-top-boxes; and personalization features. In addition, the new publishing system is built on a new service oriented architecture (SOA), which ThePlatform says provides additional reliability and scalability. One of the key new features in MPX is the “smart publish profiles,” which lets video publishers set up profiles with specified formats, transcoding parameters, thumbnail generation, bit rates and other assets for each target platform or device, such as a Web site or Apple’s forthcoming iPad.
This makes sense. There are new distribution opportunities available to outfits like Comcast. Paying another company to repurpose video content does not sense to the Comcast analysts. Comcast has Rogers Communications in Canada using the revamped platform.
I located a screenshot for the service in Media Post. I see a search box at the top of the screen, and I wondered if Comcast was indexing the spoken component of the video or just using the metadata plugged in by the user. When I search video, I want to know who was mentioned, where the snippet is, and a link to jump to the key frame where the information allegedly is.
The Comcast service has some competition. Players include:
- Brightcove, the essential platform for every professional online video project
- Veeple, a company whose technology can “dramatically increase conversion using interactive video”
- PermissionTV, now Visible Gains which asserts: “Engage with video. Close with confidence.”
- Vimeo, which greeted me with “video sharing for you”
Media Post notes in “ThePlatform Seeks To Stay A Step Ahead Of Video Syndication Scrum With New Publishing System”: …its [ThePlatform’s] biggest competition comes from the in-house platforms that publishers decide to build themselves.” Media Post added:
Founded in 2000, thePlatform services many top video syndicators, including the BBC, CNBC, PBS and Gannett (including USA Today). About 80 companies now participate in thePlatform Framework, which spans the world of online video, including ad campaign management systems, ad sales networks, analytics and reporting, content delivery networks, content protection, media formats, transcoding engines, payment processors, syndication outlets, and video search.
My observations are:
- I wonder if this platform scales. Video poses a petascale problem. If the audio track is converted to search able text, that means even more computational load. My question is, “Does Comcast have the technical expertise to build this type of system, scale it, and then fund the R&D needed to keep pace with technology changes in certain related fields such as on the fly translation?”
- I wonder if the search system can provide a user to low latency results. As more content flows through a system and more devices must be supported in content transformation, Comcast is going to need a big honking server set up. I don’t think of Comcast as being a leader in online technology based on my experience with Comcast high speed data services. My question is, “Does Comcast have the expertise to keep the system working with low latency over time?”
- I wonder if the ease of use of the system will be given high marks by the licensees. I don’t think of Comcast’s Web site or its technical information as being much above average. My question is, “What happens if a lower cost, easier to use online service becomes available?”
I think this is an interesting subarea of search and content processing. With rich media getting more attention in various market sectors, Comcast might become a competitor to such companies as Autonomy.
In the back of my mind, I keep wondering if Google will provide such a service. Interesting thought I suppose but far beyond my wing span.
Stephen E Arnold, February 16, 2010
I was not paid to admit my ignorance. I suppose such silliness must be reported. Which Federal agency has jurisdiction? Oh, I remember. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Great visionary, Mr. Wilson. He may have inspired Comcast.
Online Pricing: App Store Wars
February 16, 2010
Apple has figured out online pricing for music. The digital chains are attached to the children of the people at the Barcelona mobile hoe down. I am not sure Apple’s model applies as well to audio books and videos, though. I will admit that the iPhone App Store has been a bit of a surprise to me and my goslings. The iPhone was good looking and easier to use than some of the mobile clunkers I had previously owned. But the different pieces worked reasonably well with iTunes, the iTouch, the iPhone, and the App Store snapping my wrists together quickly.
A few moments ago I popped open my newsreader and saw a headline that caught me by surprise, probably not the magnitude of the surprise that the Apple vertically integrated approach to gizmos evokes, but close enough for an addled goose in the snow.
The article was “Two Dozen Carriers Worldwide Unite against Apple’s App Store.” After a bit of clicking, I noticed that dozens of comments were flashing around the Internet. The basics, according to MocoNews.net, a publication “healthily obsessed with mobile content”, reported:
Two dozen of the world’s largest mobile-phone companies, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, Deutsche Telekom, China Mobile and Vodafone, are teaming up to create an “open international applications platform,” which is obviously in direct response to Apple’s success with its own iPhone App Store. Release. The announcement was made this morning at Mobile World Congress. In addition to the 24 carriers, the GSMA and three device manufacturers—LG (SEO: 066570), Samsung and Sony, Ericsson—are also supporting the initiative. All combined, the group reaches 3 billion subscribers worldwide, making it easily the largest app-store initiative.
Several observations:
- In the online monetizing wars, victory goes to the outfit who figures out how to get money and keep others out. The reason that there are a couple of big companies controlling information in certain market sectors is not an accident. The market coalesces around services that amass high value content. Music is not a must have to me, but I think Apple has done a good job of turning information about which I care not a whit into a must-have information type for its customers.
- Developers go where the money is and keep poking their heads up and honking when a potential new source of money lands in their pond. Developers are paying attention to Android because it is Google, free, and gaining support. If anyone puts a dent in Apple’s shiny vertical consumer combine, it will be Google. Then guess what. Google will be the “new” Apple. It is not Google management acumen; it is the way online markets work for certain information types. I know you don’t believe me, so take a gander (no pun intended) at the online vendors of legal content.
- The Balkans approach to battling a service-device chain is going to be an interesting management problem. Sony, for example, should have been Apple. Apple grabbed a space Sony dominated and then went at the children of Sony executives. Keep in mind that the folks running these companies united against Apple can find the root cause of Apple’s success by talking to their children. If there are any young employees around, ask them.
Now is it fair, just, and right to join together to beat up on a company that was on death’s door with a boss who was on death’s door? In today’s world, I know two dozen companies who think that this type of behavior is just ducky (no pun intended).
My thought is that the telecommunications companies have problems beyond Apple. Maybe the Balkans’ method is the new management revolution? I will keep an open mind.
Stephen E Arnold, February 16, 2010
No one paid me to write this. Since the write up is about management strategy, I will report scribbling for no dollars to the Federal Consulting Group, a very strategic operation. Do you read its reports? I think the telecommunications companies do. Check ‘em out here.
Hakia Changes Results Display
February 15, 2010
Short honk: I learned that Hakia has revamped its results display in a write up called “Hakia Servers Up Comprehensive Universal Search in a New Design.” My recollection is that Google also uses the phrase Universal Search, but I may be muddling which search vendor uses which buzzword.
Interface is getting quite a bit of attention. I think part of the push is a response to Microsoft Bing’s user experience push. The other motivating factor is that search results are not that much different to most searchers. With Google getting about 70 percent of the search traffic, the other Web search folks have to find an angle. Hakia, the semantic search company, displays text search results, images and videos. The company includes categories to allow filtering with a click. I find the new interface interesting. i ran a number of test queries and found the results useful. Now the task is marketing and building traffic. Give Hakia a spin.
Stephen E Arnold, February 15, 2010
No one paid me to write this. A couple of years ago I got a bottle of water when I visited Hakia in Manhattan. I will report this to
Google Stands Up to Australia
February 12, 2010
I am no legal eagle, but I found it interesting that Google, according to The Age’s “Google Baulks at Controy’s Call to Censor YouTube”, has another Google versus a country situation brewing. According the write up,
Google says it will not “voluntarily” comply with the government’s request that it censor YouTube videos in accordance with broad “refused classification” (RC) content rules. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy referred to Google’s censorship on behalf of the Chinese and Thai governments in making his case for the company to impose censorship locally.
Google has a big presence in Australia. Based on my experience in that part of the world, Australia does not fool around in some policy areas. My hunch is that Google will be faced with some clear instructions, backed by Australian authorities, and the Google will do what it is doing to keep its shareholders happy. The Google rich media opportunity is significant and making a misstep early in the tactical deployment of this business push is probably not a good idea in my opinion.
The gentle push back from Google makes headlines, but the actions of the company are what I find interesting after the PR dust has settled.
Stephen E Arnold, February 12, 2010
No one paid me to write this article. Next time I am in Australia I will report this to the authorities in Canberra, and I will take my pith helmet with the fly netting.
Futurist Predicts the End of Writing
February 1, 2010
You have to read “Could Written Language Be Rendered Obsolete?” and the source article “Could Written Language Be Rendered Obsolete, and What Should We Demand In Return?” Kids in Kentucky no longer learn to write cursive. That means that kids may not be able to read notes handwritten. The death of written language is a bold thought. I think it is baloney. Make you own decision, but it may be tough to search content generating text from SMS, videos, and email systems that nuked themselves. Is Google worried? Probably not too much. Am I worried? No, I don’t care.
Stephen E Arnold, February 1, 2010
A freebie. I will report this to the Railway Retirement Board.
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