Microsoft Catching Up: Bing and Video

Thanks to “Seeing Through the Windows” author Preston Gralla and SFGate’s Matt Rosoff for pointing out what I’d missed.

While YouTube/Google retains its massive lead in online-video viewing, Microsoft is catching up.

I’ve written about comScore’s newest rankings, but failed to recognize that Microsoft quietly crept from #7 (last month) to #2. That fact went largely unnoticed by many of us… is it a variation or a trend? Neither Gralla or Rosoff offer, from my perspective, a solid explanation for Microsoft’s sudden ranking. Perhaps people are using Bing’s video search engine? But why?

This hardly makes sense to me. Today the Bing video site featured Jessica Black (Friday) song. It might have been titled, “search what was popular on YouTube last month.”

55 thoughts on “Microsoft Catching Up: Bing and Video”

  1. Caching? More like CASHING. Looks like they are doing the same thing SpikeTV was doing. Ripping Videos from Youtube and putting them up on their own site.

    That;s not a Search engine to a YouTube Video. That’s the Video on thier own “Viral Video” site. They did the Same thing with the Nasa Employees Form Space Shuttle.

    http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/kennedy-space-center-employees-historic-photo-op/20nquuv4

    They force ads all over it and when the video is done, the page loads to the next Viral Video. Someone is making money on it and part of it is Microsoft.

    Who wants to tell Rebecca Black?

    Nalts.. I did not see you in there yet….

  2. If I hear one of my students sing that freakin’ song one more time I’m going to scream!!!!

  3. Who the hell is rebecca black and why does everybody hate her so much. Im serious. Shes trending with some really vicious comments. And thats pretty bad, coming from me.

  4. Merlin, I can no longer get on youtube because of that whole linking to a google account which for some reason is impossible to do from my phone. Maybe I can find it somewhere else.

  5. In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands. The husband’s lover may be killed in any manner desired.

  6. Nearly half a million dislikes on that Friday song… impressive.

    According to what I’ve seen, it appears to be the new “Rick Roll” video used by internet trolls.

  7. Merlin I should be able to get youtube on this phone but yt has this new policy where you have to link all your yt accounts to a google account, and gmail wont let me create an account from my phone, so now youtube wont give me access to their site until I do. FFFUUUUCCKKKKK!!

  8. sukatra, you shouldn’t need a YouTube account just to view the videos. Only if you want to comment, rate, subscribe, etc.

  9. What’s with all of the obscure legal items, NutCheese?

    And, sukatra, much as I hate to admit it, Alexis is right. You shold be able to view YT videos without an account.

  10. @Travis: Not sure what you meant by your remark, but I shit better than that girl sings.

    Uh, oh. Been hanging around sukatra too long.

  11. Just because you and your family liked your videos doesn’t mean anything.

    The fact is, everyone is talking about her. She isn’t going on the internet to talk about you because you are of no importance to the world.

  12. @Travis: Never said I was of importance to the world. Don’t want to be. I am important to the people who are important to me.

    And, yes, everyone is talking about Rebecca Black, but not in a flattering way. And she is not of importance to the world either. Her 15 minutes of fame will be up soon.

  13. I shouldn’t even argue with you. The fact that you are an adult and feel the need to go on the internet and say bad things about a little girl kind of shows what a fucking nut you are.

  14. I don’t remember ever calling Nalts a tool. I make fun of him occasionally, but that’s only because I care (I don’t waste my time insulting worthless people).

  15. Marilyn, you shit better than she sings – BEST COMMENT EVER!! And travis, we love dissing each other for fun, operative word being fun. You were kinda being a dick to a veteran wvff commenter. Might want to rethink that strategy and lighten up a little. Just sayin’. Now bring on the hate.

  16. Omg travis, you just completely decimated me with that incomprehensible diss. *sob sob*

  17. Travis, I am here in the northwest territory of pakistan surfing the internet and I am reading this stupid blog, because lets face it, there isnt a whole lot to do out here besides blow ourselves up, and the occasional goat fuck, and this nalts guy, hes kinda funny, and I like to read the comments on his blog to pass the time, you know, when im not plotting the destruction of the american infidels. And to be perfectly honest, ive kind of gotten attached to this particular group of kefirs, I mean commenters, not so much that I wouldnt behead them if I ran into them IRL, but you know, this is the internet, they are mildly amusing and to be perfectly frank, fucking a goat is only hot the first two or three hundred times you do it. So anyway, im reading this thread of comments and suddenly I see you making reference to muslim extremists being right about something, what im not sure, it was kind of a confusing comment, but I finally deduced that you were implying that muslim extremists would have nothing but utter contempt for this particular group of commenters. Now travis, you may be a muslim extremist yourself (and if you are, no offense but wtf fuck is up with a degree in film from the university of eastern michigan?? Flight school, my brother, now THATS a valuable skill set to have as a muslim extremist!), and if you are a muslim extremist, you are free to express your own opinions. But please dont presume to say so for ALL muslim extremists. I mean its me, osama, the mac daddy of all muslim extremists, and while I wouldnt hesitate to behead any of these commenters if I ran into them IRL, this is the internet, they are mildly amusing, and to be perfectly frank, fucking a goat gets kind of boring after the first two or three hundred times you do it. So travis, my friend, let me give you a little advice. Even a muslim extremist needs to chill out sometimes, so I suggest you relax, drink a glass of hot tea, fire up some kenny g on the stereo and then go find yourself a nice goat to fuck. Allah u akbar, my friend!

  18. Okay travis, I admit, I was drunk when I wrote that comment last night. (yeah I know, alcohol is forbidden in islam, but travis, we’re living in a no mans land, we blow ourselves up, and admit it, to fuck a goat youve got to be pretty loaded.) so I was a little repetitive. But the sentiment was genuine. I love these infidels. If you dont, thats cool with me, but I disagree. I dont diss my internet friends. Thats just not how osama rolls. Allah u akbar, my friend!

  19. Okay travis let me just clarify one thing. I am fond of all these commenting infidels except Alexis. In fact, I put a fatwa upon her head. And dont go showing off alexis that technically only the religious leaders can issue fatwas or whatever the rule is. I am Osama. I do whatever I want, and in this case, you have annoyed me enough to warrant this action. I suggest you invest in a burka to hide yourself. You should be wearing one already anyway, unless you are a woman of loose morals. and if you are, we would welcome you with open arms up here in the northwest territory of pakistan to give the goat a break. I would lift the fatwa for that.

  20. I’m not (nor have I ever been) a woman, you two-bit impostor. My friend Ahmed says has a gay camel he’d be willing to let you have for cheap (he’s too scrawny to eat and isn’t doing his job making little camel calves) if you’re tired of the goat though.

  21. Wow, alexis, I cant believe you figured out it was me with the osama bit. Because, you know, I was really trying to fool people, even though the comments were intentionally written in pretty much the same style I write everything, and the people who know me here know that this is precisely the kind of thing I would do. So the fact you figured it out makes me so much more impressed with your smarty-pantsness now than I was before. Congratulations on that! And thanks but no thanks for the offer of the gay camel. I’ll leave you to enjoy for yourself. one more thing-I know youre a dude. Didnt mean to set you off with that. It was just part of the gag, and I really am sorry for offending you with those references.

  22. I’m glad you appreciate my keen insight. It feels great to be validated by the freaky denizens of this small corner of the internet. Oh, you didn’t set me off. People around here are forgetful sometimes. It took way too long for Kevin to remember that my name is not Alexis (not Alex), for example, despite numerous corrections (and he still apparently doesn’t know the difference between c’mon and common). If you act ignorantly, I will treat you as if you are ignorant and may correct such ignorance if I feel so inclined.

  23. Alexis-you win, im a dumbass and freaky denizen. But at least im willing to admit my faults, you arrogant buttplug.

  24. We are all rather freaky denizens around here. That’s what makes it interesting. I certainly don’t come here for the marketing blather. Kevin seems to attract wonderfully nutty and interesting characters such as yourself. The ensuing train wreck of such a motley group interacting with each other is a prime target for rubbernecking, but passive viewing isn’t as fun as tossing some Molotov cocktails to enhance the pyromania.

    …and I need to go to bed before weird metaphors kidnap my sanity.

  25. Can’t we all just get along?

    Except for you, Osama. I don’t like you. And not just because you fuck goats, or camels, or whatever. But I do appreciate you sticking up for us denizens against the asshats of the world.

  26. Merlin, you dont like me? This is very bad news for my self esteem, and unfortunately, my therapist wanted to be immortalized as a suicide bomber rather than help me with my problems. Hey, dr. Ahmed, enjoying those 72 virgins? Ha ha, thats just something I made up to manipulate extremists to put on the suicide vest. Anyway, you are a very cruel kefir, and I place a fatwa on your head. Burka time, asshat!

  27. @Travis:
    Even Mike Doughty thinks the Rebecca Black “song” is a travesty:
    http://mkdo.co/post/4152155117
    Sinippet:
    “Friday” is more than bad. It’s ludicrous. It illustrates a kind of shiny blandness, cheerful boringness, that’s all over the place in our culture. It’s a perfect parody of Disney product intended for tweens. Its stupidity is surreal. It’s absolutely appropriate to mock it.

    If you don’t know who Mike Doughty is, you really ARE an asshat.

  28. Hey merlin, a little birdie told me you are the spelling nazi on this blog. Well, guess what I found? A spelling error!! Its ‘snippet’, not ‘sinippet’. Sinippet is what we’re doing with that poor goat, you know, sinning with a pet. Oh man, I am enjoying this even more than sukatra said I would. No fatwa for her!

  29. @Osama Youshouldknowmylastnamebynow:

    Oops! Simply a typo, not a misspelling. Big difference. Typing on a cell phone is not easy, as you well know.

    BTW, sukatra is an asshat!

  30. I don’t know who Mike Doughtry is but he sure has a hard-on for Rebecca Black. She is getting more attention than he is.

  31. It’s “Doughty”, not “Doughtry”, and he was the lead singer for Soul Coughing, who is now out on his own. He is an incredible song writer, and people who care about music care more about what he has to say than Rebecca Black, trust me.

    He is probably more concerned about what damage this video could do to popular music (i.e., degrade it even further than it already is) than about whether a little girl gets her 15 minutes of fame.

  32. Why you gotta be so mean, Travis?

    BTW, my students LOVE me.
    Sukatra loves me (you know you do!)
    NutCheese loves me.

    Who loves you, Travis?

  33. How am I being mean? I am just calling you on your shit of being a hater of a 13 year old girl. You are the mean one. I don’t spend my time trying to hate on little girls.

  34. I don’t know about you, but I don’t hate that little girl. Feel sorry for her maybe. I’m convinced that her song can’t possibly be anything but an brilliant parody of crappy pop music. The lyrics are inane garbage and her singing even after autotuning is annoyingly bad. The production quality is semi-pro, but that’s really the only thing it has going for it other than it’s absurd awfulness. It’s so bad it’s funny. That’s the reason it has millions of views, not because it has any artistic merit.

  35. My sentiments, exactly, Alexis. I pity the poor girl, I do not hate her. I teach kids her age, for god’s sake! Trust me, no one who works with middle school aged kids hates them. If you did, you’d go nuts.

    The song is just plain awful and, even auto-tuned, her singing is weak at best.

    Now I’ve had enough of this conversation. I’m going back to Twitter and Words with Friends.

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