You’ve seen the videos with someone hiding in a garbage can and trying to scare the piss out of a garbage man. Here’s my attempt. The ending hurts.
Category Archives: popular videos
Provoking Comcast
Well after the Comcast Sleeping video and the AOL cancellation video, I thought I’d give this a go. I needed to cancel Comcast anyway… so I tried to see if I could provoke this rep. No such luck, but I had fun anyway.
I find it very interesting that Comcast (and probably other companies with call centers) are making representatives aware of the latest online videos. As you’ll see in this 2-minute piece, this guy knew about both of the videos I mention above.
First Interesting Article on Online Video (in a While)
I’m getting so tired of the hype articles, or the latest story about an instant viral video classic. Finally, here’s an interesting piece.
Source: The Ultimate Middle East Business Resource. Go figure.
On YouTube:
“But this bandwidth is expensive. It’s estimated that bandwidth costs YouTube US$1 million per month. But the investment – YouTube has raised US$11 million in venture capital – is money more than well-spent. YouTube estimates that it could already earn US$10 million a month by putting ads at the start of every video. So far, it hasn’t, because it doesn’t want to alienate viewers. Instead it’s looking for new and creative ways to get advertisers on board.?
On Advertising:
“For advertisers, the beauty of video sharing sites is being able to target highly niche audiences. All videos are tagged with different keywords, from the general “music” “sport” “comedy” to specifics such as “Britney” “golf” “kittens”. Nearly a third of YouTube’s visitors are aged 18-24, a key youth market that is getting harder for marketers to reach.”
Three Lessons:
- There’s a lot to learn from YouTube. The first lesson is that internet users are desperate for compelling, quirky and entertaining multimedia content. And they are happy to get it in small bites. They may not want to pay for it, but they’ll probably put up with a short TVC or banner ad for the privilege of watching.
- The second is universality. Anyone, anywhere, on any system – even mobile devices –
download, you don’t need a particular browser or the latest version of Windows. This is going to be a harsh lesson for video sites that try to force users to specific (usually Windows-only) formats. Accessibility is the only way. - The third – as NBC has learnt (WVFF editor’s note- poor writer CLEARLY can’t spell), but the RIAA still shuts its eyes to – is not to fear and resist the New Media Revolution, but to embrace it. The internet is here to stay and here to grow. It’s impossible to try and control the machinations of millions of hungry bright minds. If people want to see a video, they’ll find a way to rip it, copy it, encode it. Forget proprietary formats, forget copyright protection – the hackers and crackers will always be ten steps ahead.
When a Copyright Violater Gets Violated
I like scoring my videos with copyrighted songs, but I started to realize that it’s not sustainable. So now I’m carefull with copyright issus — using royalty free content or my own creations on GarageBand (Mac).
I had a new awakening about copyright violation yesterday when speaking to a guy from Google Video. I realized (see image below) that my “Google Earth: Has it Gone Too Far” had been submitted by two other people. Then while we were speaking I realized his team had selected Crackberry as a “Google Pick.” He asked why I hadn’t included the name of my company and I said it must have been an oversight. But when I went to edit the video entry I realized… I hadn’t submitted Crackberry! Someone else scraped it from YouTube or Revver.
As he observed, this isn’t an issue for those seeking viral fame. But for those with content they hope to commercialize, it’s a bummer. It’s also a risk as someone could easily edit my work, add something offensive and submit it as me.
To be honest, I’m flattered that someone would go to the trouble. Yet if someone starts making money on my content I’m going to have to create a fake URL of an attorney’s website and send out really good BS letters from him. I think I’ll use the name Mike Huntz.
The Mad Search for the Most Popular Videos
I’ve noticed that my most popular posts are not my deepest thoughts about the future of online video, or about how amateurs can make money. Nope, if I want blogger popularity I simply write about what video is hot that week.
Indulge me, dear readers, in an experiment. In this post I will write about the hotest videos. I’ll report back how many views this post gets. Did you know that Emmalina is the most popular YouTube uploader? BritBot& Simula Special gets more comments than most. The Diet Coke and Mentos fad, unfortunately, is not over. Today I’ll get at least 4 e-mails asking me if I’ve seen the Comcast guy sleeping. Don’t ask me why, but computer animation with musical scores are all the rage. Check out Naruto AMV- Hinata’s Perfect World. It’s one of the top rated videos on YouTube.
Today thanks to Google sponsors you can watch Felix the Cat for free (which is nice, because I’ve been wanting to watch him for a while, but didn’t want the guilt of searching for an illegal posting of him… that was sarcasm on both fronts). Paris Hilton is the number one video on Google Video. That name still gets searches, doesn’t it? Or is she yesterday?
Learning how to fold a perfect shirt seems to be hot on MetaCafe. And here’s one of the shortest most viral clips: Hiding the beer gut. And Dancing Around the World is one video that deserves the viral status it’s getting. Most people will stop watching this video of an Asian woman performing what appears to be an illicit act but is actually an ad.
Okay- I’m fried. It ‘aint easy finding the good stuff.