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Scary Shorts in the Screening Room

mquagliarello — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:30:00 +0000

Been a while since your last good scare? Then check out the new round of short horror films in The YouTube Screening Room, our destination for top independent films from the film festival circuit.

This series of shorts, which have played at some of the world's most prestigious festivals, including Sundance, Tribeca and London, have something in common beyond their caliber. From sadistic serial killers to beautiful zombies to tales of romance gone horribly, horribly wrong, these films all take "twisted" to the next level.

This collection comes courtesy of Warner Bros.'s "The Orphan", coming to theaters July 24, which tells the story of a couple terrorized by the seemingly innocent child they adopt after the death of their baby girl.

Posted by Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager

Update on New Channels

mquagliarello — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Update (9/16): The remaining items on our to-do list for new channels have been taken care of (with a few remaining bugs expected to be fixed in the next two weeks), so we're planning on switching all user channels still using the older version on September 30 and all partners on October 14. To read about the fixes and improvements that have been made, hop on over to the Channels Beta Blog.

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Update (7/11): We want to give you a heads up that we're changing the day on which we'll move all remaining channels over to the new version. Why? Well, July 15 is almost here, and we realized that we still have a few bugs and things left on the to-do list.

Specifically, here's what we plan to do before we roll the new version out to all remaining channels:

Add transparency (now done)
Fix some browser-specific layout bugs - in particular, IE6 has a few issues right now
Allow you to default your channel to "grid" view
Allow you to re-order your uploads & playlists
Fixes for some of the other bugs you've helped find (such as grid view not always working in IE), and other small things

So when's the new date? That part's a little trickier, and rather than try to predict it, we'd rather focus our time on taking care of the above list. But we'll announce the new date no less than two weeks before it happens - and yes, it's still coming this summer. Keep an eye out here or on our beta blog. Thanks!

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It's been a week since we announced that a new version of channels is coming, and we wanted to give you an update on our progress. Well over a million of you have now opted in to the beta, and many of your channels are looking really good -- we were just admiring shotscience's and muzik4machines's designs.

Your feedback over the past two months has shaped -- and will continue to shape -- the evolution of this whole site and particularly your channels. We've been hard at work fixing some of the bugs you've pointed out, as well as taking care of some of your top requests. For instance, we're happy to announce that we'll be supporting transparency so that your backgrounds can indeed shine through -- this will be done prior to switching over to the new channel design. And some of the bugs we've taken care of now include reducing the occasional sluggishness that some users have reported, as well as fixing the scrollbar that broke for some when ads appear. (For a longer list of fixes and additions, go to our beta blog.) We'll share more of our progress later, too.

As always, you can learn more about how to switch to the new version of channels by visiting our Help Center, where we also have some tips on setting things up. We also encourage you to continue pointing out bugs in the beta and letting us know how we can improve. Best places to comment are below in this blog, in our beta blog or in the comment portion of our announcement video.

Posted by Brian Glick, Product Manager

Upload Size Doubles + HD Tips

mquagliarello — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Many of you have been asking for an increase in the size limit of your uploads. We're happy to announce that the size of standard uploads has doubled from 1GB to 2GB. The increase means you can upload longer videos at a higher resolution as well as large HD files directly from your camera.

In addition, the team's implemented some new features to make it easier for you to show these videos off to the world. The changes allow you to share links directly to the HD version of your video, as well as embed the HD version on your blog or website. Here's how:

* To share a link to the HD version of your video, simply append &hd=1 to the end of the URL. This means the video will start playing in HD as soon as someone follows the link. Cool, huh?

* To embed the HD version of a video on a website or blog, click the 'customize' button to the right of the embed box on the video page. Some options will appear; simply check 'play in HD'. The embed code that's generated will cause the video to start playing in HD as soon as a viewer clicks play. We recommend embedding HD videos at the largest size (853x505) for maximum enjoyment.

If you haven't yet started uploading your content in HD, see our Help Center article for more information on how to do so. You can also browse some popular HD videos here.

Posted by Ryan Junee, Product Manager

Adopt a Feature v2

mquagliarello — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:00:00 +0000

You may remember the inaugural edition of Adopt a Feature, for which you made videos about AudioSwap, Country Pulldown, Insight, Playlists, Quick Capture, and Subscriptions. These videos generated 818,698 views (they're all collected here) and a bunch of them even got featured on our homepage. At the end of the two month run, thecomputernerd01 was crowned the Adopt a Feature king, thanks to his zany explanation of how the country/language pulldown menus work -- a video that accounted for a third of all of the program's views. He also got this awesome T-shirt.

Josh took a break from ribbing his grandpa to tell you why you should get involved with Adopt a Feature v2.

In case you're still buzzing from Josh's high-energy onslaught, here's what you need to know: Make a video about any or all of the features on the list below (click on the name of the feature to get more information about it). Include the name of the feature and "adoptafeature" in the tags -- this is important; it's how we'll locate your video for inclusion on our channel and possibly on the YouTube homepage.

* Annotations
* Customize Your Homepage
* Tags
* Quicklist
* Mobile Upload

(By the way, for folks waiting to hear more about the roll-out of new channels, we should have an update in a few days.)

Posted by Hunter Walk, Director, Product Management

Use Action on YouTube to Drive Action Off YouTube

mquagliarello — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:15:00 +0000

For a few months, we've been testing a feature for partners that lets them add "Call-to-Action" overlays to their YouTube videos to help them drive traffic to other websites. Many have used the feature in creative ways, such as collecting signatures or driving song downloads.

Today we are making Call-to-Action overlays more broadly available by launching the feature as an option for anyone who uses Promoted Videos. Just go to ads.youtube.com and you'll quickly and easily be able to both increase views of your content and drive traffic to an off-YouTube website at the same time.

For more information, check out our recently launched YouTube Biz Blog.

Posted by Thai Tran, Product Manager

Helping You Report the News

mquagliarello — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:45:00 +0000

Ever captured a natural disaster or a crime on your cell-phone camera? Filmed a political rally or protest, and then interviewed the participants afterward? Produced a story about a local issue in your community? If you've done any of these things or aspire to, then you're part of the enormous community of citizen reporters on YouTube -- and today, we're launching a new resource to help you learn more about how to report the news.

It's called The YouTube Reporters' Center, and it features some of the nation's top journalists sharing instructional videos with tips and advice for better reporting. Learn how to prepare for an interview from CBS News' Katie Couric; how to be an investigative reporter from the legendary Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, or why it's important for citizens to participate in the news-gathering process from Arianna Huffington. And definitely don't miss out on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's video on how to report from a crisis area without getting shot.

In addition, you can also learn practical and ethical tips, like how to fact check your stories, avoid breaking the law while reporting, and adhere to journalistic principles. Check out the Reporters' Center to see all the videos.

This isn't meant to be a one-way conversation. For the first time on YouTube, these reporters are making themselves available to engage with you directly. If you have experiences on reporting the news yourself and would like to share your tips, you can submit them for inclusion in the center. Upload your "how-to" videos to youtube.com/reporterscenter and share your knowledge with citizen journalists around the world.

If you're a news organization that would to become a YouTube news partner, please read more information on how to apply here.

Posted by Olivia Ma, News Manager

Submit Your Question for President Obama

mquagliarello — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

President Obama is taking your questions this Wednesday in a special online health care town hall event. With health care at the top of the President's agenda, he is opening up the White House to questions via YouTube. Create a 20- or 30-second video question and submit it as a reply video to the video below (go here to get started). He'll answer some of the most popular questions during the event, which we'll stream live from the White House YouTube channel.

This is your chance to speak directly to the President, so don't miss this opportunity to upload your video now. Make sure the sound and video quality are as clear as they can be, and if you'd like, leave your name and your hometown in the video description.

Posted by Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics

Mobile Uploads to YouTube Increase Exponentially

mquagliarello — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:00:00 +0000

In the last six months, we've seen uploads from mobile phones to YouTube jump 1700%; just since last Friday, when the iPhone 3GS came out, uploads increased by 400% a day.

This growth represents three things coming together: new video-enabled phones on the market, improvements to the upload flow when you post a video to YouTube from your phone, and a new feature on YouTube that allows your videos to be quickly and effortlessly shared through your social networks. It takes just a minute to connect your YouTube account to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader accounts. Complete a simple, one-time connection on our upload page to allow all your friends and followers to get a real-time stream of your uploads to YouTube, which can be essential in this age of citizen reporting and ubiquitous sharing.

Already, you're teaching each other how to use this technology, you're doing product reviews and comparisons, and you're making test videos -- lots and lots of them. In fact, look at them closely -- where they're shot, who's in them -- and they stitch together a great patchwork of, well, life, from the little moments to the big ones:

* At grandpa's house
* In a Cambodian liquor store
* Observing carnivorous plants
* Drumming
* Swinging kids
* On a roadtrip
* At a wedding
* Capturing a wistful, rainy day
* "Live" from the Apple Store
* Squashing a can
* Pulling a giant stump out of the backyard
* Poolside, complete with a drop in the water (it keeps working)

Can you make your test video go viral through your social networks? If you can, we're willing to feature that video on our homepage. Upload a video from your phone, tag it with "mobiletest," share it with your social network, and Tweet us the link (so be sure to put "@youtube" and "mobiletest" in your message). We'll give you one week to spread your test video far and wide, after which we'll take a look at the most popular clips and feature a few on our homepage in a special "mobile upload" edition of our Spotlight Video.

So get goin', and if you want more info about playing and creating YouTube videos on your phone, go to http://www.youtube.com/mobile. There's a video on that page (or click here) that offers a step-by-step guide to uploading videos from your phone.

Posted by Dwipal Desai, Product Manager, and Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager

Lights! Camera! Action! Trailers Page Launches

mquagliarello — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Summer is in full swing and that means summer movie season is right around the corner. Get a sneak peek at upcoming blockbusters by checking out our new Trailers page in the Movies section of our site. We have previews for some of the season's most anticipated films, like "Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince" and the new Twilight movie, "New Moon." We're adding new trailers frequently, so check back often.

Posted by Curtis Lee, Product Marketing Manager

New Channels Coming Soon

mquagliarello — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Specifically, here's what we plan to do before we roll the new version out to all remaining channels:

Add transparency (now done)
Fix some browser-specific layout bugs - in particular, IE6 has a few issues right now
Allow you to default your channel to "grid" view
Allow you to re-order your uploads & playlists
Fixes for some of the other bugs you've helped find (such as grid view not always working in IE), and other small things

So when's the new date? That part's a little trickier, and rather than try to predict it, we'd rather focus our time on taking care of the above list. But we'll announce the new date no less than two weeks before it happens - and yes, it's still coming this summer. Keep an eye out here or on our beta blog. Thanks!

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UPDATE (6/27): We've heard all your comments about the channel re-design these last few days. One reminder we'd like to throw out there is that we're still in development, and now is your chance to give feedback on things you'd like to see in the new version of channels. We're listening. You've already helped -- and will continue to help -- us shape and grow this product by commenting in this blog, in our beta blog and on our announcement video.

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A few months ago, we launched our YouTube channels redesign in beta (first via a secret opt-in URL that many of you discovered, then as a visible opt-in link). Hundreds of thousands of you are now using the new version, have contributed a lot of useful feedback, and have helped make the new channels beta stronger and faster. Here are a few cool examples of great new channel designs: IceflowStudios, Vlogbrothers, nalts, LisaNova, ThadewGrum, The White House, and University of Phoenix.

We're now ready to start rolling out the new channels design to more users. Starting today, all new accounts will automatically have the new version of channels. Here's a video introducing the new channels, the benefits, and how you can get started:

Finally, we'd like to give you advance warning that all existing channels will change over to the new design on July 15. (Partners, watch for separate communications about your changeover date.)

Want to try it out or start getting ready before July 15? Just click on the "Upgrade my channel!" link on your Channel Design page (and note that you can switch back anytime until July 15). Keep in mind that new channels are still in beta for now, so there may be a few elements missing here and there. If you have questions, please visit our Help Center. Also, we've been sharing our progress and gathering feedback from users on a dedicated channels beta blog. Join in if you're interested in learning more and want more frequent updates on our beta progress -- and let us know if there's anything that you'd like to see added to the new version of channels, too.

Thanks!

Brian Glick
Product Manager
The YouTube Team

More From Iran: On-the-Ground Footage, Tribute Videos

mquagliarello — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Last week, we highlighted several videos uploaded straight off the streets of Iran, as protests raged and the Iranian police force, the Basij, cracked down. And if the graphic footage that was uploaded to YouTube by Iranian citizens over the weekend is any indication, it appears the tension between the protesters and the government is not abating.

On Saturday, mass fighting broke out in Tehran -- hundreds were reported injured, and at least several dozen were killed. This video depicts the atmosphere in the nation's capital as similar to that of a war zone. One of the victims of the violence was a young woman named Neda, who was shot and died moments later on camera despite the efforts of protesters at the scene (viewer discretion is advised as this video contains extremely graphic and disturbing images):

Neda's story caught the attention of the international community, and she has quickly become recognized in the media as the "face of the movement," with numerous tribute videos springing up on YouTube.

We're seeing more eyewitness accounts of violence in Tehran uploaded today, including this footage of a police car engulfed in flames and this video, which shows an Iranian student who has been shot during a protest (allegedly by members of the Basij). In light of the particularly graphic nature of the content that is being uploaded, it's important to note that although these pieces won't be taken down, they may be age-restricted to users who are over 18.

We'll be standing by, as Iranian citizens continue to post videos to YouTube in an effort to share their stories with the world. You can stay on top of the latest news videos from Iran on youtube.com/citizentube.

Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

Announcing Service 2.0: Video Volunteers

mquagliarello — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wanted to volunteer but weren't able to find an opportunity that felt right? Have you ever considered using your video-creating skills for a cause you care about but didn't know exactly how to get started? Well, search no more. Starting today, you can become a YouTube Video Volunteer -- and we'll help find you a great nonprofit organization to work with right here on YouTube.

Video Volunteers is YouTube's version of a new platform that Google has launched called All for Good, which helps match citizens with volunteer opportunities in their local communities. Built in partnership with the White House, All for Good is sort of like a Craigslist for community service. But you don't just have to show up at your local soup kitchen or animal shelter to give back -- volunteering in the 21st century can be done entirely online.

Powered by All for Good, the YouTube Video Volunteers platform will help you find a nonprofit organization that needs help creating videos to promote its cause. Starting today, you can sift through video opportunities on www.youtube.com/videovolunteers and connect directly with nonprofits for whom you'd like to make a video. Learn more about the platform from the Vlogbrothers, who've used their audience and talents to champion causes they care about:

The Vlogbrothers aren't the only familiar faces who are on board to become Video Volunteers. LisaNova made this video, highlighting the fact that there are many nonprofits that need your help:

Whether you're an aspiring filmmaker, an at-home vlogger, an advertising aficionado, or just someone with a video camera and some spare time on the weekend, we want you to be a Video Volunteer. And if you're a nonprofit who would like to find a video volunteer, you can visit the Video Volunteers channel for information on how to post a video assignment.

We'll highlight some of the best videos every month on the Video Volunteers channel and beyond, so that your work can help change the world, one video at a time.

Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube Nonprofits & Activism

Happy Father’s Day, YouTube Style

mquagliarello — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:15:00 +0000

Set aside the lame ties, bad aftershave and other dubious gift ideas and deliver what dear old Dad really wants -- a laugh or two. On the homepage today we're sporting a spotlight module dedicated to Father's Day funnies. We've brought together comedians ranging from homegrown YouTube personalities like ShaneDawsonTV and Spricket24 to sketch comedy groups like TotallySketch and TheLandline. There's also historical humor from the VlogBrothers and the cheeky ventriloquism of JeffDunham.

Whatever your taste in comedy, we hope this collection of videos contains something you can forward on to Dad, to let him know how much you mean to him. It won't cost you a cent. After all, it is the thought that counts -- especially if it's a funny one.

Best,

Mark Day

YouTube Comedy

Uploads Unplugged

mquagliarello — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Since the new iPhone hit stores this morning, we've seen thousands of videos uploaded to YouTube from the new device. (If you didn't know, now you can shoot and upload videos to YouTube directly from your iPhone.)

To see just how easy it is to share your iPhone 3G S videos with the world, check out this video we shot with -- what else -- our new iPhone 3G S.

Now go upload some videos!

Tom Bridgwater

Software Engineer

An Update On What’s Happening in Iran

mquagliarello — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:15:00 +0000

It has been one week since Iran's contested presidential election, and YouTube has been flooded with footage from the streets of Tehran and other cities, documenting the civil unrest that is unfolding there. In the past few days, many Iranians have participated in violent demonstrations, held silent rallies to protest the elections, and grieved for those killed as a result of deadly clashes with the Basij, Iran's auxiliary police force. In the past 36 hours, the foreign media has all but been expelled from the country, making the role of Iranian citizens even more critical in shedding light on what is happening there.

Yesterday, opposing candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi called for a day of mourning to honor eight of his supporters who have died since the protests began. As you can see in this clip, a massive number of protesters gathered (some reports are in the hundreds of thousands), dressed in black, to peacefully pay their respects to the fallen and demonstrate their perseverance in seeking justice. A candlelight vigil was held on Thursday night, and Mousavi himself addressed the crowd and urged his supporters to stand up against corruption. Yet due to the Iranian government's crackdowns on foreign media, this speech received no airtime, inside or outside of Iran. The only clip we've seen of it on YouTube lasts just 20 seconds, but it illustrates the incredible power and energy of the crowd amassed.

In stark contrast to Mousavi's speech, Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed the Iranian people today, insisting that they accept Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory. Khamenei told Iranians, "If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible." The speech was broadcast on national television, and footage is available here:

Continue to stay tuned for more... and don't forget to check out the Citizentube blog for regular updates.

Olivia Ma

YouTube News & Politics

Release Notes: 6/18/09

mquagliarello — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Lately, the team has been pushing out features and fixes as they're ready in "mini-pushes" rather than waiting for the big, numbered releases that occur once a month. Here's what's gone out in the last few weeks:

* The Wonder of "Wonder Wheel": Next time you search for a video on YouTube you may notice a link on the right-hand side of the page labeled "Wonder Wheel." This is a new beta search option from Google.com, which we think has some cool potential as a way to navigate the vast range of videos on YouTube. You may have seen "also try" suggestions at the top of search results. Now we are letting you navigate across those suggestions graphically. Wonder Wheel displays searches related to the one you are searching like spokes on a wheel, allowing you to explore different search suggestions quickly. You can click on any of the wheel's spokes to see a new wheel with more related topics and browse new relevant video results to the right. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

* Improved Advanced Search: Let's say you want to narrow down your search for a video and be more precise about what you're looking for. Advanced Search allows you to specify many more details than our normal search, including when a video was uploaded, the location it came from, and its length. We've reworked Advanced Search to be easier to use and to better reflect the range of content on YouTube (lots of new stuff!).

* Remaining Time Display on Upload Progress Bar: In April, we launched the new progress bar with our Flash uploader. We added a small enhancement to the UI to show the estimated remaining time based on your file size and internet bandwidth. We hope this will give you a bit more info about the status of your upload.

* Download MP4 Files of Your Own Videos: Oh no! Your computer just crashed and you lost the original files of videos uploaded to YouTube. Don't panic. Find the video you want in "My Videos" and hit the "Download MP4" button to save the MP4 file of the video to your computer. You can download videos recorded with your webcam, too.

* A More TV-Like Experience: We recently launched a feature that hides the player control bar when you are in full screen for a more immersive, TV-like experience. (Speaking of which, read our blog post about YouTube XL for more about optimizing YouTube on large screens.) You can also "pop out" any video by clicking on the button in the top right corner, right above the video. The video will open in a new window, without any of the surrounding features or videos, for the simplest possible experience. (Please note: this feature won't work when embedding has been disabled by the uploader.)

* Mobile App in Six New Languages: A few months ago, we launched an all-new YouTube Mobile Application for fast, high-quality video streaming on Windows Mobile and Symbian Series 60 phones. Just two days ago, we released the App in French, UK English, Italian, Spanish, German and Dutch. To install it in your language, please visit m.youtube.com/app.

To comment on any of these features, leave a note below or head over to the Help Forum feedback and suggestions page.

Until next time,

The YouTube Team

More Footage from Protests in Iran on YouTube

mquagliarello — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Last Friday marked a long-anticipated Election Day in Iran to choose the next Iranian president. While the voting process itself ran smoothly, widespread violence has since broken out in protest of current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim to a decisive victory over challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Mousavi supporters, who believe Ahmadinejad rigged the election results, refuse to accept the verdict and have been openly protesting since Saturday.

Video clips that capture the chaos and rioting in the streets of Iran's capital, Tehran, have been streaming into YouTube for the past four days. Even though YouTube appears to be blocked in Iran -- the site is experiencing a small fraction of the traffic levels it normally receives from Iran (around 10%) -- we continue to see videos being uploaded to the site that document city streets crowded with angry demonstrators, violent clashes between protesters and state police, and visceral scenes of mass unrest.

In essence, YouTube has become a citizen-fueled news bureau of video reports filed straight from the streets of Tehran, unfiltered. Because the Iranian government is cracking down on local and international media coverage, these citizen-generated videos are providing an exclusive look at the developing violence. Here's a collection of some of those videos. (Please use your discretion before viewing, as some of them contain disturbing images.)

We've noticed some claims going around that YouTube has been engaging in acts of censorship and removing some of these videos from the site. Unless a video clearly violates our Community Guidelines, we will not take it down. In general, we do not allow graphic or gratuitous violence on YouTube. However, we make exceptions for videos that have educational, documentary, or scientific value. The limitations being placed on mainstream media reporting from within Iran make it even more important that citizens in Iran be able to use YouTube to capture their experiences for the world to see. Given the critical role these videos are playing in reporting this story to the world, we are doing our best to leave as many of them up as we can. YouTube is, at its core, a global forum for free expression.

Take note that if you see a video that is unavailable on the site, it may be because the user decided to remove the video him or herself.

We're following what's happening in Iran on the Citizentube blog (www.citizentube.com), so stay tuned for the latest.

Yours,
Olivia Ma
YouTube News & Politics

Watching Video Change Our World

mquagliarello — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:00:00 +0000

[Cross-posted from the Google Blog]

As you might have noticed, there's a lot of fascinating stuff that happens on YouTube every day. For example, did you know that a nine-year-old recently used YouTube to successfully campaign to save his local kickball lot? Have you seen the video of a Guatemalan lawyer who predicted his own assassination on YouTube moments before it happened? Or did you know that YouTube and Google have launched a new technology platform for political debates, which allows you to submit and vote on the most important issues you want to discuss with political candidates?

These are the sorts of things you can stay on top of with Citizentube, a special YouTube blog devoted to chronicling the way that people are using video to change the world. If you've followed news and politics on YouTube, you might have noticed that we started Citizentube as a video channel on the site a few years back, but we soon realized that keeping track of all the phenomenal uses of YouTube by posting our own videos just wasn't fast enough — so now we're blogging, too. We generally focus on two types of posts: the compelling political and social uses of YouTube that we see the community bubble up every day, and our own programming initiatives and partnerships in the political, news, and nonprofit arenas.

Our team creates opportunities for you to engage with content that goes beyond the humorous or even the educational — content that changes the way you interact with your communities, institutions, and leaders. The first initiative we launched in this space was the You Choose '08 platform and the CNN/YouTube Debates in 2007. Since then we've expanded our programming to the fields of government, activism, and news & information. On the blog, we'll post an occasional series that gives a bigger picture perspective of what's happening in the worlds of news reporting, government, and social change on YouTube.

So be sure to check out www.citizentube.com and subscribe to our RSS feed (we're on Twitter, too: @citizentube). With more than 20 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, our blog helps provide you with a filter that you can use to see the way that video is changing our world.

Yours,

Steve Grove

YouTube News & Politics

Over 500 Ways to Reform Health Care

mquagliarello — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Last week, YouTube Senator of the Week Chris Dodd (D-CT) asked you for your input on the health care legislation that Congress is currently drafting. You responded enthusiastically on the Senate Hub, contributing over 500 unique ideas on health care reform and casting over 26,000 votes on these ideas, making this the most successful round of Senator of the Week to date. Today, Senator Dodd responds to your top-rated suggestions:

While Senator Dodd wasn't able to respond to all of your suggestions, there were many compelling and thoughtful responses to the health care reform question submitted through Google Moderator. Many of you endorsed a single payer system, with one Massachusetts resident offering this rationale: "SINGLE PAYER. Everybody in and nobody out. It's a great idea from the left, which is public financing, combined with a great idea from the right, which is private delivery."

Others disagreed, like Porter from Florida, who wrote, "We are pleased with our health care sharing program and a mandated health insurance will be an infringement on our religious and economic liberties. Share programs are an effective and efficient part of our nation's current health care system."

While Senator Dodd is no longer accepting suggestions through the Senate Hub, we encourage you to continue this spirited debate by submitting a comment or video response to Senator Dodd's video.

Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

The Best Dunker on YouTube Crowned

mquagliarello — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0000

After viewing and voting on an incredible group of dunkers, you've spoken and chosen the winner of YouTube Slam Dunk Challenge, a competition honoring the most talented hoopsters on YouTube. We're proud to announce WhiteFlightBD as The Best Dunker on YouTube! Here's his winning video:

WhiteFlightBD will receive a prize package including signed gear from our panel of super-judges Chris Bosh and Jalen Rose, and he'll perform with Team Flight Brothers at a dunk event (subscribe to Team Flight Brothers channel and stay tuned for video of that event). Coming in second, third and fourth place, respectively, were keithkegerreis44, joshsherrod1978 and MeanDuckDunker. They're featured with WhiteFlightBD on YouTube's homepage today. In addition to our top four finishers, our judges selected paleprodigies as the Round Two Open Submissions winner. Check out his video here.

Big ups to the hundreds of high-flying dunkers who submitted videos to the contest and to the thousands of community members who voted. We're constantly amazed by the talented people using YouTube every day.

Best,

Andrew Bangs

YouTube Sports

Share YouTube Videos on Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader

mquagliarello — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0000

As we learned in kindergarten, sharing is good. We want you to be able to do more of it with your videos. With a simple one-time log-in on our upload page, you can now have your YouTube account automatically update your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and Google Reader shared items when you upload a video.

If you change your mind, you can shut it off at any time. And of course, for those videos that you'd rather not share, mark them as private and they won't be sent to any other site. We hope this makes it easier to share your good times with your friends.

Cheers,

Brian Glick

Product Manager

The YouTube Team

Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube

mquagliarello — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Last night, we had the honor of attending the 13th Annual Webby Awards in New York City, where YouTube stars like video DJ Mike Relm performed and YouTube staples like The Onion were recognized.

But what happened on stage is only half the story.

Starting today, you can watch the show on the official Webby Awards YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/webby. You can also design your own Webby Awards experience, using show highlights (like this montage), 5-word acceptance speeches (see supermodel Molly Sims's and comedian Jimmy Fallon's) and red carpet interviews with the Internet famous (like Ben Huh of failblog).

We hope you enjoy this viewing experience, and congrats to all the winners!

Best,

Kristin Kovner and Jennifer Hyman

YouTube Marketing

Senator of the Week: Grab Your Seat at the Health Care Table

mquagliarello — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Currently, the Senate is writing major health care legislation that has the potential to affect millions of Americans who currently lack coverage, as well as businesses and families who are getting hit with rising costs.

That's why YouTube Senator of the Week Chris Dodd (D-CT) wants to hear your ideas on health care reform: is your current coverage is working for you or do you have a better solution in mind?

As a Senior Member of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, one of the two committees in charge of drafting the upcoming health care reform bill, Senator Dodd wants to make sure that citizen voices are guiding the process.

Want to have a virtual seat at the health care table? Head over to the YouTube Senate Hub and use the Moderator gadget to offer up your thoughts or vote on others. Senator Dodd will return next week to respond to your top-rated suggestions.

Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

Celebrate World Environment Day with Luc Besson’s Film Premiere

mquagliarello — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today, we're proud to celebrate the 37 annual World Environment Day with the world premiere of "Home," a documentary about the survival of our planet, from award-winning filmmaker Luc Besson and photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Not only does this film give us a glimpse of our planet from never-before-seen perspectives that demonstrate the urgency for more sustainable living, but it also marks the first time a global audience can watch a movie online, in movie theaters, on TV stations, and on outdoor screens around the world at the exact same time - a fitting debut for a film that asks us all to work together for the benefit of our planet.

"Home" will be available on YouTube in French, English, Spanish, German, Russian and Portuguese through June 14th, which means you have 10 days to watch, discuss and share on YouTube. We hope the experience inspires you to action.

Sustainably yours,

The YouTube Team

Phishing Scam Update

mquagliarello — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:00:00 +0000

We are aware of recent emails where users posing as Google or YouTube support have tried to obtain the log-in credentials of our users and partners. Security is a top concern at YouTube and we employ techniques that are both proactive and reactive to block these scams. We are taking additional steps to try to prevent something similar from happening in the future. Also, please note that YouTube will never send an unsolicited message asking for a password or other sensitive information by email or through a link.

Thank you,

The YouTube Team

A New Model for Political Interviews and Debates

mquagliarello — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:00:00 +0000

YouTube Politics might just have come full circle. It all started during the 2006 midterm elections, when Senator George Allen's infamous "Macaca Moment" spread across YouTube and ultimately, many say, led to his narrow defeat in that election. Fast forward three years later, and Virginia is once again home to a YouTube Politics first: the first citizen-powered interview series for a gubernatorial primary.

YouTube and Google partnered with the Politico and WJLA to give Virginian voters the opportunity to submit text or video questions for the state's three Democratic gubernatorial candidates: Terry McAuliffe, Creigh Deeds, and Brian Moran. Submissions took place on a new tool called Google Moderator, which allows you not only to submit questions or ideas, but also to vote on the submissions of others, moving them up or down in importance. Thousands of Virginians took part in the interactive interview, and last night WJLA and the Politico aired the results, in which all three candidates answered the top questions on television.

As our CNN/YouTube Debates demonstrated during the 2007 presidential primary season, the web allows citizen engagement to play a prominent role in the country's most important public forums. Now with Moderator, the people's voice can be an even more powerful force in surfacing the issues that matter most to the public at large. We've used Moderator in our "Senator of the Week" series on YouTube, and President Obama employed Moderator in his "Open for Questions" initiative back in April. We look forward to taking this model to other local, national, and international elections.

We'll also be partnering with the Politco and WJLA once again this fall for another series in the Virginian general gubernatorial election, so stay tuned. And if you want to create your own debate or interview series for your state or local elections, head over to google.com/moderator to see what this new tool can do.

Yours,

Steve Grove

YouTube News and Politics

We Put Games in the Spotlight for E3

mquagliarello — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

For gaming fans, E3 is the place to see the industry's most-anticipated new properties. If you can't make it to Los Angeles for the convention, E3 Spotlight is the place to check out the highlights of the show.

E3 Spotlight brings together some of YouTube's top gaming partners for the first time to give you in-depth coverage of this annual industry event. Respected gaming editors from channels like IGNentertainment, GameSpot, Machinima, and Wired are hitting the trade show floor to get the scoop on games that will be on every player's holiday wishlist at the end of the year. For a change of pace, expect to see ObamaGirl at E3, trading in her BarelyPolitical slant for a BarelyDigital agenda. When you visit E3 Spotlight, you can make your own opinions known by voting on which new game trailers you like best.

We'll be adding more videos to E3 Spotlight during and after the event. So check in for more previews and interviews, and don't forget to keep your game face on.

Cheers,

Mark Day

YouTube Gaming

The Secrets to Michael Buckley’s Success

mquagliarello — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago we asked you to submit and vote for your most pressing questions for YouTube star Michael Buckley. Over 100 of you participated enthusiastically by asking 84 questions and voting 1,623 times. And while we would have loved it if Michael could have answered every question, he did manage to answer your top 10 queries, along with a few more that he hand-selected.

Buckley covers topics ranging from how to make money on YouTube to revealing his secrets for getting your videos noticed. It's an informative yet entertaining inside look into making it on YouTube; we hope you like it as much as we did. Thanks, Michael!

Thanks,

Curtis Lee

Product Marketing Manager

The YouTube Team

Experience YouTube XL on the Big Screen

mquagliarello — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Last January we introduced a video website especially for people who wanted to access YouTube videos through their Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii game consoles. You could say we've now "expanded" on that. Just as there's a YouTube browser for mobile devices, the new YouTube XL is optimized for watching YouTube videos on any large screen.

In addition to an all new design offering large text and simplified navigation, YouTube XL offers a continuous play feature, which lets you search for a topic on YouTube and then press "play" once to watch all of the videos sequentially on that topic. Also, getting from one video to the next takes just a few clicks, and you can control the action with a blue tooth enabled remote control, or even some mobile phones.

With millions of HD playbacks daily, YouTube is now bringing popular YouTube favorites like "Where the Hell is Matt?" to the big screen in HD. Also better when bigger: check out larger-than-life roller coaster point-of-view videos, work-out routines with the screen out of high-kick range, university lectures where you can read the blackboard, and home videos the whole family can watch together.

Yours,

Kuan Yong

Platforms Product Manager

The YouTube Team

YouTube Slam Dunk Finalists

mquagliarello — Sat, 30 May 2009 08:00:00 +0000

The YouTube Slam Dunk Challenge has moved into Round Two! Our esteemed panel of judges — Chris Bosh, Jalen Rose and Team Flight Brothers — have studied all the entries and selected six finalists.

These finalists have each uploaded a new video showcasing their prodigious skills — but who will earn the crown "Best Dunker on YouTube" and perform with Team Flight Brothers at an official TFB event? You decide.

Bounce over to the YouTube Slam Dunk channel to view the six finalists' videos and cast your vote for the best (click "Vote" on the center module). Voting ends Monday, June 8th and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

Best,

Andrew Bangs

YouTube Sports

The United Nations’ Latest Mission

mquagliarello — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Though the United Nations has had a presence on YouTube for several years, it recently re-vamped and re-launched its channel with the goal of providing more relevant videos to citizens around the world. Now, you can find pertinent information about a wide range of topics including peace and security, social and economic development, human rights and climate change.

In its new incarnation, the UN's YouTube channel is particularly focused on providing timely content. Today, to mark the International Day of Peacekeepers, they released this video to highlight the fact that in 2008, 130 peacekeepers lost their lives in the line of duty -- the highest one-year total in the UN's history. They've also uploaded this piece, which takes a deeper dive into the unique challenges that female agents of peace face.

The UN is also uploading some unexpected videos to their channel. Sure, you can still find statements from Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and information about the latest UN endeavor to save lives. But you can also discover archival footage of Che Guevera speaking on the UN floor in 1964 or immerse yourself in this retrospective of sci-fi classic Battlestar Galactica:

So take a few minutes to peruse the UN's updated channel -- you may find information you were looking for, or stumble across a great video you didn't think you'd find.

Best,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube Nonprofits & Activism

Community Help Forum 2.0

mquagliarello — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Today marks an exciting change for the Community Help Forum: We'll be transitioning from the Google Groups platform to a new support platform which we believe will make it even easier for you to find help and share knowledge with one another. In addition to an updated look and feel, the new Help Forum has some useful features geared toward better serving your needs.

So what's new?

* Particularly great answers can now be marked as a "Best Answer,” so users with a similar problem can find the solution quickly and easily.

* The new Help Forum keeps track of user reputation. You can immediately tell which posters are YouTube employees, top contributors, seasoned posters, or new posters. As users make positive contributions to the Forum, their reputation will increase, and so will their capabilities.

* Other benefits of the new Help Forum include the ability for you to link to Help Center content, blogs, websites, YouTube videos, and images in your posts.

What about the content from the old Help Forum?

The content from the Google Help Groups will not disappear, but we are closing the Help Groups from additional new posts. You can post all your questions and answers in the new Google Help Forum. Don't worry -- you'll still be able to search and read previously posted Google Help Groups content through the Help Center.

Definitely stop by the new Help Forum, give us feedback on what you like or don't like, and make yourself at home...

See you soon!

The YouTube Team

Cool Uses of YouTube APIs

mquagliarello — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

API stands for "Application Programming Interface," but what it means is "open for innovation." Developers write software that enables you to bring elements of YouTube to your website, software application or device, creating whole new portals of possibility.

Our API blog keeps developers in-the-know on the latest happenings in the YouTube API world, and this page on YouTube gives a comprehensive overview of where to start, how to build custom players for your site, widgets to play with, instructional videos, developer forums, and more. On May 27-28, many avid developers will convene in San Francisco for the Google I/O developer conference to learn from each other and share best practices.

While all those tech-heads are getting together, we wanted to start a new series in this blog that shows you the best of the fruits of their labor. For example, take the upload. Sure, you can go to YouTube and click the yellow "upload" button on the homepage. But there are actually many ways for a video to go from point A (your recording device) to B (YouTube), all made possible by creative use of APIs:

* Android 1.5 sports a one-click upload process which happens in the background so you can do other things while the video is being uploaded. Learn more about it in this Google Mobile blog post.

* iMovie has one-step publishing to YouTube. Apple has details here.

* Qik automatically updates your live stream to YouTube once the stream is completed. Go to the Qik site here for more info.

* Eye.Fi offers an SD (Secure Digital) card that you can insert into your digitial camera enabling you to upload videos wirelessly from the camera to YouTube. Read a product review from the Washington Post here.

* Flip is an ultra-portable digital camcorder with software that makes it easy to upload recorded videos to YouTube. The camera plugs directly into your computer's USB port.

Then there are some pretty cool slideshow apps, which make it easy to turn photos into videos:

* Animoto heralds itself "the end of the slideshow."

* One True Media "perfectly mixes" your life for family and friends.

* Aquasoft sells slideshow creation software.

And games. You probably already know about SPORE's Creature Creator app, which blew up on YouTube last summer. Turns out, there are other games making good use of YouTube's API:

* PixelJunk Eden fans can capture video of game recordings and upload directly to YouTube. More info in our API blog here.

* GoldenTee gives you the option to upload to your YouTube account if you make a great shot. There's a wireless connection inside each game, meaning that if you're in an arcade or bar without an Internet connection you can still upload videos worthy of bragging rights.

What YouTube apps have you seen that made you drool with excitement? Tell us about them in the comments below and we may include them in a future blog post here or in the API blog.

Yours,

Kuan Yong

Product Manager

The YouTube Team

"Do Something" Good on YouTube

mquagliarello — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Young people today, often referred to as "the Millennial Generation," have been characterized as a group that is particularly passionate about giving back to their communities. That's why YouTube is excited to partner with Do Something on this year's "Do Something Awards," an annual competition that identifies exceptional young social entrepreneurs, activists, and community leaders who are changing the world.

Do Something has selected five finalists who have already made a significant impact in the fields of muscular dystrophy research, global poverty, HIV/AIDS awareness, voting enfranchisement, and education for refugees. All five of the inspirational young finalists will receive $10,000 for their cause, but only one will receive the Grand Prize of $100,000. And it's up to you, YouTube, to decide which cause deserves the money the most:

To learn more about the finalists and the issues they are passionate about, check out these video profiles:

Voting starts today on the Do Something YouTube channel and ends on June 4, when the winner will be announced at a live awards show and concert at the famous Apollo Theater in New York City. So get voting, and if you feel really inspired, do something to inspire change in your community.

Best,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube Nonprofits & Activism

Commemorating Memorial Day on YouTube

mquagliarello — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day of remembrance that was first observed in 1868 to pay tribute to Union and Confederate soldiers who had died in the Civil War. Over the years, Americans have commemorated the day in different ways -- from wearing red poppies, to decorating graves, to attending military parades.

More recently, people from across the country -- including the President and several Members of Congress -- are using YouTube to share their reflections on what the day means to them.

Congressman Joe Donnelly of Indiana told the stories of Lance Corporal Cameron Babcock, Sergeant Joseph Ford, and Private Randy Stabnik, three fallen troops from his home district, in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, which he later posted to YouTube:

Congressman Denny Rehberg of Montana uploaded this tribute to his official YouTube channel:

Meanwhile, troops and government employees deployed around the world are sending virtual Memorial Day greetings to their friends and family back home via DIVIDS, an online system for sharing news, images, and video from military operations around the world.

Wishing you a safe Memorial Day weekend.

Best,

U.S. Army SGT Dale Sweetnam

Google Public Affairs

Cross-posted from the Google Public Policy Blog.

Best in Jest Is Back

mquagliarello — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:00:00 +0000

If you're a fan of high-quality online comedy, get set because Best in Jest, YouTube's recurring comedy collection, returns for another three-week stint. Designed to minimize time spent searching for the funny, the concept is simple: Best in Jest aggregates videos from some of our most popular comedy channels in one place, this time presented by The Hangover, the new Warner Brothers movie directed by Todd Cooper (Old School).

The latest Best in Jest lineup is headlined by Lisa Nova, The Fine Brothers and WickedAwesomeFilms. You can also expect to see such reigning comedy champs as TheOnion and CollegeHumor, alongside first-time jesters like Current. It's like a comedy club for your computer, with a no-drink minimum.

We'll be adding more clips to Best in Jest over the next week, so come back often.

Best,

Mark Day

YouTube Comedy

The U.S. Government Comes to YouTube

mquagliarello — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Spacemen floating through the international space station. World leaders sending messages across borders. A life-sized slice of pizza explaining how to apply for a passport. Sound like outtakes from the latest Hollywood movies? Actually, these videos are part of the new U.S. Government portal on YouTube.

That's right, your federal government has come to YouTube. You may have noticed that President Obama has been posting weekly addresses to the White House YouTube channel since inauguration. Now, there are dozens of official federal YouTube channels where you can access footage from NASA, the State Department, the FBI, the CDC, and more. It's all part of making Washington, D.C., more transparent and accessible than ever before -- and helping you easily navigate government information that's relevant to your life.

The U.S. Government channel is located at youtube.com/usgovernment, a nifty hub that links off to dozens of federal government channels on YouTube, from the Social Security Administration to the Environmental Protection Agency, with others to be added in the coming months. Learn more in this video from the White House New Media office, and take a spin through this playlist to see some highlights so far:

Our federal leaders and civil servants aren't just on YouTube to distribute video; they're here to engage with you in a way that only YouTube makes possible. So leave your comments, rankings, and ideas for these agencies on any of their videos to ensure that your voice is heard on the issues you care about. Reach out to your local government as well and encourage local officials to start posting footage to YouTube. By exposing everything from committee hearings to planning meetings, we can make our civic lives more open than ever before. Ultimately, it will help us hold public servants accountable for the jobs we've hired them to do.

Yours,

Steve Grove

YouTube News & Politics

Zoinks! 20 Hours of Video Uploaded Every Minute!

mquagliarello — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

In mid-2007, six hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute. Then it grew to eight hours per minute, then 10, then 13. In January of this year, it became 15 hours of video uploaded every minute, the equivalent of Hollywood releasing over 86,000 new full-length movies into theaters each week.

Now, 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and it is a testament to the fact that you've made YouTube your online video home. We couldn't have built this site without your commitment to sharing your thoughts, experiences, and creativity with each other. We have news clips and full-length shows and movies, music videos and how-to content, sports highlights and animation, short films, homegrown videos, and, yes, all the dogs on skateboards you can watch. There's an audience for every type of content on YouTube, and we hope that with all this video, you can find whatever it is you're interested in on the site.

We're still developing new ways to upload videos to YouTube. Today we're launching a feature that allows users to conveniently record a video response immediately after watching a video, making the YouTube experience even more social. When the video you're watching ends, an icon encouraging you to respond will appear in the player. Clicking on the icon will activate your webcam and immediately bring you into the conversation.

So thanks, and let's see if we can get to 24 hours -- a full day's worth of video uploaded every minute.

Ryan Junee

Product Manager

The YouTube Team

Malaysian YouTube Musician Gets Signed and Tours

mquagliarello — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:15:00 +0000

For today's Music Tuesday, we spotlight the debut recording of singer-songwriter Zee Avi, who, the day before her 22nd birthday, posted a melancholy holiday song on YouTube that she intended to be her last video posting in December 2007.

By the time she checked her email she had almost 3,000 messages, including a slew of label offers. One email came from from Ian Monotone, who had been shown the YouTube clip by Raconteurs' drummer Patrick Keeler, prompting a signing to his label. Avi is now managed by the same team who works with the White Stripes, M.I.A., The Shins and Vampire Weekend, among others. Earlier this year she was flown from her hometown in Malaysia to a recording studio in Los Angeles.

In honor of this talented YouTube's musician's success, today we present an exclusive acoustic mini-concert of songs from Avi's debut CD; the video for her single "Bitter Heart"; and an early song that wasn't titled in 2007 but has since made its way to her new release. We've also got a video blog from Zee Avi herself explaining how uploading her original music to YouTube has landed her a tour of the U.S. after only playing local gigs in Kuala Lumpur.

Have questions for Zee? She has answered a few of them already on her YouTube channel here, including "Are you a lefty?" and her less-than-tech-savvy response.

Cheers,

Michele Flannery

YouTube Music

Cell Phones, Celebrities, Congo & You

mquagliarello — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:00:00 +0000

We've seen both nonprofits and the YouTube community use the site to run powerful campaigns that raise awareness for important issues. But we want to do more than just be a platform for grassroots activism. That's where Video for Change comes in: It's a new initiative that helps nonprofit partners connect with you in a high-profile environment to initiate meaningful change.

Our first Video for Change program features an organization called the Enough Project. They've been on YouTube for over a year, calling attention to issues that don't get much coverage in the mainstream media. For the "Come Clean 4 Congo" contest, Enough wants you to create a compelling video about the "conflict minerals" used in cell phones and the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo –- the deadliest war since World War II.

Learn more here:

The creator of the winning video will be flown to Los Angeles, where his or her work will be screened at a star-studded entertainment industry event. Your video will be viewed by a panel of judges that will include Oscar-nominated actor Ryan Gosling, actress Sonya Walger from ABC's Lost, and Oscar-nominated director Wim Wenders. The "Come Clean 4 Congo" contest is limited to U.S. residents -- you can find complete contest rules here.

So do what you do best, YouTube -- get creative. Make a video and submit it at www.youtube.com/enoughproject. Use video to make a change now.

Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube Nonprofits & Activism

YouTube Project v51: Words via Wordle

mquagliarello — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:00:00 +0000

If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you might remember that a few weeks ago we asked you two questions:

* What three adjectives describe the YouTube of today? #youtubetoday

* What three adjectives describe your ideal YouTube of the future? #youtubefuture

We were collecting these responses for an internal "visioning" exercise -- that's a fancy design term for wondering what we'd like to be when we grow up. In other words, we have a pretty good sense of what we are today, but we are looking to explore the possible future paths your experience on YouTube could take in the years to come. We're calling this whole effort YouTube Project v51. For you die-hard YouTube fans and blog followers, you may know that we number major releases and just recently reached v39. Well, we wanted to make sure the team thought way into the future, so we chose v51 as a far-off target. (Plus, it brings to mind Area 51 and futuristic alien technology, which seems appropriate.) There are a lot of different design and research methods we're using in YouTube Project v51, and we're looking forward to sharing some of them with you in the weeks to come.

It was fun and inspiring to see the words you came up with to describe the YouTube of today and the YouTube of tomorrow. We plugged the submitted terms into Wordle, a data visualization tool, to come up with tag clouds, and we want to share them with you.

YouTube of Today:

YouTube of Tomorrow:

Big poster versions of these have been hanging in our office micro-kitchens and lots of entertaining, spirited discussions have happened in response to them. It's one of many ways we work to bring your voice into our day-to-day work. These artifacts serve as reminders of why we do what we do: to provide entertaining and powerful experiences to you, our users.

Take a look and tell us what you think -- how would you describe the YouTube of today and of tomorrow? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

Best,

Margaret Stewart

User Experience Manager

The YouTube Team

The Cannes Short Film Corner: Vote for Aspiring Filmmakers

mquagliarello — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:00:00 +0000

The Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival is a sprawling marketplace featuring hundreds of works by many of the world's up-and-coming auteurs. Thanks to the fifth annual National Film Board of Canada's Short Film Competition, you can check out 10 of the best films that the Corner has to offer, all from the comfort of your own computer screen.

Selected from over 1,400 submissions from 60 different countries, these films represent an exciting mix of genres and styles. To see the 10 finalists just visit the NFB's YouTube channel. Voting is as easy as rating the films using the YouTube one-to-five-star scale: five stars for your favorites and one star for those you're not so enthusiastic about. With an HD MINI-DV camera going to the winning filmmaker, every vote counts.

Yours,

Nate Weinstein

Film Community Manager

The YouTube Team

Michael Buckley to Answer Your Questions!

mquagliarello — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered how to build an audience on YouTube and then turn that following into a powerful business? Well, Michael Buckley, writer, producer and star of entertainment news show "What the Buck?," has done just that. (Read all about him in the New York Times.)

Now he's offered to share the secrets of his success with you.

To ask Buckley a question, or to vote on questions submitted so far, click on this link. You'll have until Monday, May 18, 10am PT, to have your say. Then, in a couple of weeks, we'll post a video to this blog with his answers to the most popular questions. We hope you'll take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn from one of YouTube's foremost user-experts.

Thanks,

Curtis Lee

Product Marketing Manager

The YouTube Team

Seeing Red on YouTube

mquagliarello — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Today is World Red Cross Day and the commemoration marks over 60 years of the Red Cross preparing communities for emergencies and providing disaster relief to those in need. Over the past few years, the organization has been using YouTube to help achieve these objectives.

For example, the British Red Cross posted this nine-video how-to series about first aid. The videos cover everything from how to perform CPR to how to treat a burn. Not to be outdone, the American Red Cross has just uploaded sixteen very pertinent videos all about swine flu, including information about how it spreads and how to prevent infection.

In addition, today the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will launch an ambitious new campaign, called "Our World. Your Move," which aims to raise awareness of today's most pressing humanitarian challenges and highlight the power of individuals to make a difference. Interested in taking part? This animated short can serve as your introduction:

flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295">

Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube Nonprofits & Activism

Senator Dorgan Addresses Your Ideas About Solar Energy and "Vampire Devices"

mquagliarello — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Last week on the Senate Hub, Senator of the Week Byron Dorgan (D-ND) asked for your ideas on energy policy, noting the fact that the Senate is currently in the process of drafting new energy legislation.

Using Google Moderator, you submitted a number of specific suggestions including installing solar panels on government buildings and addressing those terrifying "vampire devices" (appliances that sit idle continuously wasting electricity). In this video, Senator Dorgan responds to your top-rated suggestions:

If you'd like to continue the conversation with Senator Dorgan about energy policy, you can visit his YouTube channel and post a comment or a video response.

Yours,

Ramya Raghavan

YouTube News & Politics

Creating YouTube Videos With Android Phones

mquagliarello — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Creating YouTube videos with your phone is simpler and faster than ever before. If you have a camera phone with video capture, post your video by sending an email or MMS to your unique YouTube email address (more details at www.youtube.com/mobile). And with the Android 1.5 release, it's even easier to create YouTube videos on Android-powered phones -- you can send them straight to your YouTube account by tapping the 'share' button and selecting YouTube. With the Android YouTube application you can also view your favorites and playlists, access your subscriptions, and share videos.

Sharing videos on YouTube is just one of many new features on Android 1.5. Check out our video to learn more:

Best,

David Stewart

Product Marketing

The YouTube Team

Two Are Better Than One

mquagliarello — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Starting today, signing up for YouTube means signing up for a Google Account that gives you access to YouTube, as well as other Google services such as iGoogle, Reader and Docs. If you already have a Google Account, you can choose to link your new YouTube Account to it, which means one less password to remember.

You can still sign up for YouTube with any email address and you'll still need to confirm whatever email address you enter. You'll also still pick a unique YouTube username that identifies you to the YouTube community.

So why are we doing this? We feel that by jointly connecting accounts, you can take greater advantage of our services both on YouTube and on Google, especially as we start to roll out new features in the future that will be powered by Google technology.

For those of you who already have a YouTube Account, don't worry, you'll still be able to enjoy YouTube with just a YouTube Account. But some of the new features we roll out down the road may require a Google Account. In these cases, we'll be there to help you link your YouTube Account to a Google Account if you want to check the features out.

Cheers,

James Phillips

Software Engineer

The YouTube Team

Webbys for the Mantle…

mquagliarello — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:00:00 +0000

We woke up this morning to good news: YouTube Live won three different Webby Awards in both the Web and Online Film/Video categories for live events and webcasts. Thank you so much for voting! We're proud to be in such great company; many of the other winners also have a formidable presence on YouTube, among them TED (Best Use of Video or Moving Image), The Onion (Humor), FailBlog (Humor, Weird - People's Voice), and Lonely Planet (Travel - People's Voice).

We're also thrilled to see that Live staples DJ Mike Relm and Virgin America were Honorees for outstanding content created for YouTube Live (click here for Relm's Lionsgate mashup and here for Virgin's "Epilogue" video by LisaNova). Relm will be performing at the Webbys, on June 8 in NYC, and he's already created a twisted "thank you" speech/promo video:

We're looking forward to celebrating with you on June 8. In fact, this year we're teaming up with the Webbys to create a front row experience on the Webbys' new customized YouTube channel, which will contain the winners' five-word acceptance speeches, celebrity interviews and show highlights.

Enjoy,

Chris Di Cesare

Director, Marketing

The YouTube Team

Win a Place on Team YouTube at Cannes Young Lions

mquagliarello — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:00:00 +0000

At midnight on May 15, the clock starts ticking on a 48-hour YouTube contest that will catapult two users onto the Cannes Croisette at the very moment that the world’s advertising community is in town for their annual get-together at the Cannes Lions advertising festival.

The two victors of this online iteration of the Young Lions Film Competition will form a YouTube team that will take on 37 others from around the world in a week-long challenge to shoot and edit a 60-second commercial on behalf of a charity.

In terms of the YouTube competition, would-be winners (who must be 28 or younger) will be able to see the brief from midnight on May 15. They will then have to upload their finished ads to the Cannes Lions channel within 48 hours, and then embark on a quest for clicks and kudos before the curtain comes down on the competition on June 1.

A panel of industry professionals will review the entries (as well as views, ratings and the profile of the ad) before announcing the winners. So stay tuned to the Cannes Lions channel for more information, review the efforts of those who have gone before you, and make sure your creative juices are set to flow forth once the starting pistol is fired on May 15.

Have fun,

Jamie Dolling

The YouTube Team

Release Notes: 4/30/09

mquagliarello — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:30:00 +0000

Hello! Yesterday we had another release -- v38, if you're counting -- but if you've been reading this blog, you'll know that lots has happened between the last Release Notes post and today. We launched our RealTime beta, a new look for the homepage, a destination for TV and movie content, and CaptionEditor in TestTube. We try to be nimble and push out new features or fixes as often as they're ready. Let us know what you think of these latest updates:

* New Options for Uploaders: In our continued effort to give you ultimate control over how your videos are presented, uploaders can now tweak the appearance of their video when played on YouTube or in an embedded player. Just insert any of the hint tags below into the tags field of your video and voila!

yt:crop=16:9 (zooms in on the 16:9 area, removes windowboxing)

yt:stretch=16:9 (fixes anamorphic content by scaling to 16:9)

yt:stretch=4:3 (fixes 720x480 content that is the wrong aspect ratio by scaling to 4:3)

yt:quality=high (default to a high quality stream, depending on availability)

* HD Browsing Goes Global: Add Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and U.K. to the list of countries where you can browse the most popular HD videos in the region.

* AudioSwap Adds Recommendations: If your video contained an audio track that was not authorized for use on YouTube, the Recommended Tracks feature in AudioSwap will help you quickly find fully licensed songs to replace your original audio track. Recommendations are based on a combination of popularity and, for audio-matched videos, similarity to the original track. The three tracks being used most often are "Bodies" by Drowning Pool, "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence, and "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven.

* Subscription Tab in More Places: We added a new "Subscriptions" tab to the top of the page a few weeks ago for anyone with an account who sets his or her country preference to "Worldwide." Starting today, the Subscriptions tab is available on any of our English-language sites, and we'll add it for other languages soon, too. Why is this important? Simple -- we hope to build stronger connections between video creators and their audiences by making subscriptions more prominent on YouTube. Please let us know if this change has positively impacted your viewership.

* Subscription Suggestions: Building on our new subscriptions tab, users without any subscriptions who visit the subscription center will now see some channel suggestions (a random set of popular channels) to help them get started using this key YouTube feature. If you already have some subscriptions, you can see the suggestions, too -- just click on "About Subscription Center" in the upper-right corner of the subscriptions center.

* Username Alternatives: YouTube is a big place these days and many channel names are taken. But starting today, if your desired username is already in use when you sign up for an account, we'll offer some alternates, hopefully reducing the head-scratching that can come from trying to figure out a handle that you like and is available. Right now this is in test mode, but we expect it to go 100% soon.

* A Tooltip to Help With Precise Seeking: If someone tells you to check out their video at two minutes, now it's easy to find that precise point. As you drag the thumb (what we call the little circle) back and forth, a shiny new tooltip will tell you exactly where you are in the video.

Always,

The YouTube Team

Your Chance to Contribute Ideas to the Energy Bill

mquagliarello — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Time was, Congress wrote legislation inside the bubble of Washington, DC, and tried their best to get back to their home states and districts to get citizen feedback. Now, your Senators and Congressmen can solicit your feedback instantly online -- which is just what Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is doing this week in his "Senator of the Week" feature on the YouTube Senate hub.

Head over to the Senate Hub and let Senator Dorgan know your ideas for the Energy Bill. As his video explains, the energy issue is critical to the long-term sustainability of the U.S. economy and to national security. Dorgan is committed to hearing your ideas and getting back to you, so submit your thoughts now and vote on the others that are there.

Yours,

Steve Grove

YouTube News & Politics

Leaders Respond to Swine Flu Pandemic on YouTube

mquagliarello — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:15:00 +0000

In these early days of the swine flu outbreak, governments and global leaders are responding to the pandemic on YouTube - using video to reach citizens with information and instruction about the spreading virus. On our homepage today we're featuring some of the videos that have been making their way around YouTube, as citizens share clips with each other on how to handle the threat of the flu virus in their communities.

The Center for Disease Control's YouTube channel, which we featured a few days ago, has come out with a new video from Dr. Joe Bresee - this one outlines how to recognize the symptoms of swine flu. The Mexican Government is working hard to educate citizens as well, with PSAs like this one that help citizens understand how to prevent the spreading of the virus. In the U.K., Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been joining the international conversation, as has Ban Ki Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, who delivered this statement on the United Nations' YouTube channel, outlining the UN's work to fight the flu.

Stay tuned to these channels (and more) as governments and citizens keep each other informed with the latest information on the swine flu pandemic. You might also want to take a look at Google.org's experimental flu trends tool for Mexico, which is tracking the development of the flu based on search queries within Mexico.

Yours,

Olivia Ma

YouTube News & Politics

Insight Data: Any Way You Want It, That’s the Way You Need It

mquagliarello — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:00:00 +0000

We launched YouTube Insight a year ago to help you better understand your viewers and how they engage with your videos. Along the way, we've introduced features like Demographics, Hot Spots and Community to give you sophisticated ways of analyzing viewer data. Whether you want to know how old your audience is, how many times your most viewed video was rated last week, or which minute of your clip is most engaging, YouTube Insight can give you the answer. As we add functionality, we're careful to preserve YouTube Insight's clean and easy-to-use look and feel.

Throughout this process, we've realized that there are limitless ways viewing data can tell fascinating stories about your audience. As you continue to post videos, we will continue to make viewing data transparent and accessible for you.

Today, we have added a link that allows you to export your Insight data into CSV files. CSV files are open format files that organize data so it can be moved and analyzed using common spreadsheet software such as Google Docs and Microsoft Excel. Now you can view and manipulate your data any way you like.

Looking for ideas? Try comparing the view count for different videos side by side, mapping out where your viewers are coming from over time, or comparing discovery sources by country. As always, tell us about the interesting fun facts you learn in the comments below!

Cheers,

Tracy Chan and Kenny Stoltz

Product Managers

The YouTube Team

Live Stream on YouTube: The President’s First 100 Days News Conference

mquagliarello — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:15:00 +0000

The first three months of the Obama Administration have brought the new American President unprecedented challenges. Back in November, when he was elected, everyone knew the economy and the Middle East would be critical issues for Obama to attack early on. But like every president before him, he's had to deal with the unexpected as well: who could have predicted pirates off the Somali Coast or swine flu?

As citizens and pundits from all political perspectives analyze the President's first 100 days in office today, Obama himself will address the nation tonight on the 100-day anniversary of his inauguration -- and we're going to carry a live stream of the conference from the White House YouTube channel. Be sure to tune in at 8pm EDT to watch it live.

We're also featuring commentary and analysis from top news organizations on our homepage today. Hear Karl Rove grade the President on Fox News. Get a re-cap from Al-Jazeera on what Obama has accomplished in his opening act. Watch the Washington Post talk with Americans in DC about their early impressions of the new President.

You can join in the conversation by making a video: How is the Obama Administration doing, and what advice would you give the President moving forward? Upload your thoughts to YouTube and add them as a video response to this Citizentube video, and we'll feature some of them on our News page tomorrow.

Finally, don't forget to come to youtube.com/whitehouse at 8pm EDT to watch President Obama address the nation.

Yours,

Steve Grove

YouTube News & Politics

The Tribeca Film Festival in the YouTube Screening Room

mquagliarello — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

The 2009 Tribeca Film Festival is in full swing in sunny New York City, showcasing some of the year's best independent films. With its reputation for high quality programming and cutting edge panels, the Festival has quickly emerged as a must-stop for serious film buffs.

Can't make it to the Big Apple? No worries -- you can catch 4 short films from the Festival's critically acclaimed 2009 Official Selection in the YouTube Screening Room. From a bitter man's 50th birthday party to a teenage boy's priestly penitence, these shorts epitomize the great, off-the-beaten-path stories for which Tribeca is known.

For more festival coverage, red carpet premieres and behind-the-scenes footage, check out the Tribeca Film Festival YouTube channel.

Enjoy,

Nate Weinstein

YouTube Film

Slam Dunk: Last Chance to Submit!

mquagliarello — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:00:00 +0000

If you or someone you know has formidable dunking skills, the window of opportunity to be named "Best Dunker on YouTube" is closing quickly — the last chance to submit a dunk video to the YouTube Slam Dunk contest ends at midnight this Sunday, April 26.

We've seen some incredible submissions which you can view in the Gallery on the Slam Dunk channel. The judges for the contest — Chris Bosh, Jalen Rose and Team Flight Brothers — will select the top 20 dunkers to move on to the final round (May 6 - 24), when the YouTube community will vote on the winner.

Everything you need to know in order to submit is in this video:

Now get out there and show the world what you can do.

Best,

Andrew Bangs

YouTube Sports

100 Invites to RealTime for Blog Readers

mquagliarello — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Today is the beta launch of YouTube RealTime, a new way of discovering what your friends are doing on YouTube. Through this persistent toolbar, which appears in the lower right corner of the page, you'll be able to see which of your YouTube friends are currently online and what they're watching; a history of their recent activities on the site; and real-time notifications when they perform activities like commenting, favoriting, and uploading.

Wanna try it? The first 100 people to say "Yes! Sign me up" in the comments below will get an exclusive invite to test it out. Please keep in mind that you will need to have friends on YouTube for this to work -- the more you have, the richer the experience, so be sure you accept friend invites and actively manage the list. Participants can enter feedback on RealTime in the forums or in comments below.

Regards,

Ryan Junee

Product Manager

The YouTube Team

Six Easy Ways to Live Green

mquagliarello — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Today is Earth Day, and we want to help you take care of our great planet. It's not hard at all if you know where to start. Here are six things you can do now to make a difference:

1) Get a houseplant

This might seem small, but adding a little bit of greenery to your home can help remove harmful particles from the air.

2) Be vigilant of the faucet

We use far more water than we really need. Taking shorter showers, planting drought-tolerant plants, and only running the washing machine when it’s full are just a few ways to conserve this precious resource.

3) Call your energy company

Find out if they have a green energy plan or ask for an audit to see where you may be able to save energy.

4) Shop local

Buying produce from neighboring farms can help reduce your carbon footprint.

5) Change your commute

Try biking to work once a week instead of driving. It's better for the environment and better for you, too.

6) Turn trash into treasure

Before you throwing something away, stop: You might be able to turn it into something useful for your home.

Our Live Green channel has lots more videos with fun projects and ideas to help you to do more to green your lifestyle.

Happy Earth Day,

Sadia Harper

YouTube HowTo & Style

Watch Shows and Movies on YouTube

mquagliarello — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Today we're excited to announce a new destination for television shows and an improved destination for movies on YouTube, where partners like Crackle, CBS, MGM, Lionsgate, Starz and many others have made thousands of television episodes and hundreds of movies available for you to watch, comment on, favorite and share. This addition is one of many efforts underway to ensure that we're offering you all the different kinds of video you want to see, from bedroom vlogs and citizen journalism reports to music videos and full-length films and TV shows.

To help you navigate through all this great content, we're introducing two new tabs to the YouTube masthead: the "Shows" tab allows you to browse shows by genre, network, title and popularity, while the "Subscriptions" tab will grant logged-in users one-click access to fresh content from their favorite creators.

Another change you'll notice today is the wider roll-out of in-stream ads, which we've been testing since October, to support our shows and movies content -- not unlike what you might see when viewing this type of content on TV.

While shows and movies are currently limited to users in the U.S., we look forward to expanding to other regions as soon as possible, and we're pleased to inform you that the "Subscriptions" tab will be available worldwide in the next few weeks.

We hope you enjoy watching shows and movies on YouTube. There's still work to be done and we look forward to iterating with you, whether that's rolling out new engagement features, expanding our content offering or improving your viewing experience. And, as with everything we do, we'll track your usage and feedback to preserve your fundamental YouTube experience while we take these steps to enhance it.

Yours,

Shiva Rajaraman, Product Manager, and Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager

The YouTube Team

The Summit of the Americas: Ask Secretary Clinton a Question

mquagliarello — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Starting this Friday, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be participating in the Summit of the Americas - a meeting of diplomats and world leaders from the Western Hemisphere. At the Summit, leaders address key topics at the top of everyone's agenda: human prosperity, energy security, environmental sustainability, and poverty reduction. This year's Summit is in Trinidad and Tobago - and the State Department is letting you get involved by holding an online townhall in which Secretary Clinton (a YouTube veteran) will answer your questions.

One of YouTube's top DIY partners, Howcast, has worked with State to build an online platform for the event, here. On that platform, you can submit your question (in several languages) via this widget:

You can learn more about the Summit on the State Department's YouTube channel

Yours,

Steve Grove

YouTube News and Politics