Australian native and California-based Mark Day gives crocodiles the abuse they deserve for never having finished off Steve Irwin (the Croc Hunter that sadly died from a sting ray this week). Day’s short comedic bits are funny, tasteless and timely. This one ends especially well and you’ll appreciate it unless you’re PETA, still getting over Irwin’s early demise or a fan of Paris Hilton. I wonder if there are more PETA members than Paris Hilton fans?
Blogging has been all the rage for a few years — with cover stories on major magazines, blogs about blogs, and some bloggers literally becoming credible media sources that rival legacy print and television brands.
Interestingly, there’s a trend that appears to have accelerated far faster and more dramatically than blogs. Online video. Take for example this report (via Google analytics) for the search volume on the term “blogs” vs. “viral video.” Don’t do an absolute comparison because these graphs don’t include actual volume details and they visually scale differently. But look at the trends. You’ll see that viral video (a term only recently part of our venacular) has grown exponentially since last year with a dip in the summer – potentially seasonality. And the acceleration has occured far more rapidly than the term blog. In the first quarter of the year, searches for “viral video” exploded.
It’s hard to compare in a fair way the growth of major blog sites (like WordPress and Blogger) to the growth of online video sites (like YouTube). But I’m guessing the unprecedented growth of YouTube alone further substantiates this hypothesis
I’m going to see if we can get a point of view from Steve Rubel (the Blog expert called by BusinessWeek the “all knowing thumper in a forrest of Bambis”). Stay tuned.
Chart 1: Pet-Rock Like Growth:
Searches on the term “Viral Video” since 2004 (Google Trends)
Chart 2: Slow Boil:
Searches on the term “blogs” since 2004 (Google Trends)
Remember that girl in high school that slept with everyone? If she rejected you, you knew you were beyond hope? I think we’ve all lost hope.
Many signs point to YouTube cleaning up. YouTube appears to be policing obscene content and maybe some of the vast amount of copyright violations (which, remember, are you the responsibility of those posting not the host site). Kinda like me trying to stop my weeds by removing one at a time with tweasers. Some examples:
Suddenly YouTube appears on a mission. Marquis submitted that it might be the result of “Landlord Lane” trying to cleanse YouTube. Nice theory, but Landlord Lane himself has a suspended account!
Bring on your stories. I’m not sure this move will save or destroy YouTube, but it sure makes the YouTube Bubble Burst Pool entries interesting.
P.S. How long before they kill my account? Watch me use YouTube to tease YouTube… while you still can.
Check out the YouTube page of “MyMomsBlog”
This is not MY mom, but a famous vlogger/blogger’s mom… you figure it out. He’s named after a fat cat.
Ironic title because a video isn’t viral UNLESS it’s seen. But it got your attention, didn’t it? Here are some tips for ensuring your video is seen beyond 14 teenagers on YouTube.
Just like search engines are in constant flux, so is online video. So this advice has a limited shelf life:
Some good videos never make it out of the vicious cycle… they aren’t popular because they’re not popular.
Like TheDailyReel, YahooTV has a daily show called “The 9.” It’s not new but I have only just discovered recently. I want to make fun of it, but for some reason I can’t. I think I like it. I just bookmarked it on my Google homepage, which is my short-list of frequently visited sites.
In case you don’t know, the host (Maria Sansone) is not flirting with you. She’s flirting with me.
The online video market is getting more crowded. Here’s another revenue-sharing model in the lines of Revver and Eefoof and Motion.tv. It’s called Flixya. I discovered it from some self-promotional comments posted on popular YouTube videos.
Looks interesting, but the proof is in the pudding. I’ve asked Marquis to post his earnings to date on various sites (and he hasn’t tested Flixya). We need more content creators to do this so we’re not all wasting our times on cool sites with no traffic. Here’s his report from this morning:
Got my earnings statements for July from Motion.TV and eefoof today. I earned .61 cents at Motionless and $8.64 at foofaddle.
He’s earned thousands on Revver, but he’s been posting since 2005 and has a lot more content there. We content creators all want to know where we can make the most dough in the easiest way.
A pure “what site can I make the most $” experiment will require the following:
I’m laying this out but I suddenly don’t have the time to do this experiment because I just took a new job. And Marquis is fixing his mom’s toilet. Anyone else interested in giving this a run? We’ll creative the “definitive guide to online video revenue-sharing sites.” Oh- don’t raise your hand if you’re going to do this. It will bias the study because the site might treat you like the chef that discovers the Food critic is at the restaurant.
Six months ago I’d be falling asleep on my couch right now watching TV. But here’s a classic example of how I’m “leaning forward” instead of “leaning back.” Unless your grandson is reading this post to you, you’re probably making a similar transition.
“Here’s my travel log, and keep in mind that for online video viewing, the journey is as important as the destination.” (copyright Kevin Nalty, under creative commons)
First I visit the Revver Blog. Wonder what Micki’s up to? I see the Technorati “blogs that link here,” and I give it a “looksee.” I want to punch people who use that word. Notice SaveMentosNow, which in this post condemned a video that teaches us how to make a DietCoke/Mentos Soda Weapon. Funny clip. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one exploiting my kids for financial gain on Revver.
I click the creator’s name and it’s MunkyButterDotCom, who also created Sportsdad Blooper Funny Baseball Outtake (the video with the longest name ever) which has reached an impressive >7,000 views on Revver.
Now I see they’ve got a website called SodaSoaker.com, which is a redirect to MunkyButter.com. Good branding in that. Except for the fact that MonkeyButter is owned by someone else. Meanwhile MunkyButter is featuring some good video clips, and also my Prank the Garbage Man.
So there are 3 important take-aways from this post:
1) I don’t believe the studies that suggest online video isn’t cannibalizing tube time. It is, and will continue to until the lines blur between television and online video.
2) Check out MunkyButter. I just introduced you to it and saved you 12 clicks.
3) My wife just fell asleep to Young & The Restless. Irony?
Just discovered that WillVideoForFood is listed as one of the top 7 “Fastest Growing Blogs.” Based on this post, I’d put it down on the bottom of the “most humble blogs.”
Kevin Maney of the USAToday wrote the article that might pop the Internet online video zit. And it needs to be popped. I can’t stop looking at it. I just want to take my thumbs together and pop that pulsating red and white pimple. Because only when it’s gone can we move to the interesting era.
This morning I decided to make a video in which I would dub myself YouTube’s “emperer is wearing no clothes” guy. Haven’t finished it yet, but the point of it will be that this space (YouTube especially) is overvalued. A BILLION for YouTube? That’s probably one-million-times earnings. Not a good ratio. I see about two or three viable online videos. The rest will vanish.
So here’s this article, which is a great read if you’re interested in the business behind online videos… it’s called “Mania Strikes Web Again: Video Madness Takes Off.” It’s the best piece of journalism I’ve read on this space (and believe me I’ve read my share in the past 6 months). We’ll soon see some me-too articles like it, and this could lead to the online video bubble burst. Eventually my sister (a freelancer at ABC) will realize this is newsworthy and she’ll pitch a story. Right now she’s like “whatever… YouTube is sooooo popular.” And then while the next era of online video is quietly building, we’ll continue to see 6 months of news stories that say what Kevin did today. At least the business articles. The entertainment stories will still be about how some kid got famous on the Internet.
Up until now the mass media has been in some sort of weird hypnotic trance. It’s all about the online videos, and nothing about the revenue or sustainability. But Maney comes in with this incredibly sober and well-documented article. Here are the highlights:
Because fund rules state that the money has to be invested, the VCs are kind of like a guy who has been drinking all night and has a bladder the size of Lake Huron. They’ll go the first place that looks promising.
Interestingly, the following paragraph got yanked from the story that’s live now: “Analysts keep fanning the fire with outrageous predictions. PricewaterhouseCoopers released a report saying that by 2010, online video will be a $1.8 trillion industry. That’s about what the USA now spends on health care in a year. If PricewaterhouseCoopers is right, then if YouTube continues to control 60% of the market, by 2010 it will be a $1.1 trillion company.” A message on USAToday article PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Entertainment and Media Outlook predicts that the entire entertainment and media industry will be $1.8 trillion by 2010. An earlier version of the story misstated PWC’s outlook.”
I prefer to accept the first version because I kinda like the idea of PWC totally overstating the online video market. Anyway, aren’t they IBM now? Kevin- thanks for correcting it, but I’m going choosing to remember the first one. Anybody ever go back and look at the Forrester and Jupiter 2000-2005 expectations on doc-com revenue that were written in 1999? Now THAT’s madness.