So Google buys YouTube for $1.6 billion in stock and cash and suddenly the world wakes up. The result, hundreds of new entries into the funny video, video sharing and music video markets. I have heard many complaints about the sudden influx of content websites. To them I say, "get the hell out!" There can never be enough content on the internet. It's what the internet was born for (besides ubiquitous communication of course).
The aspect of this video wave that I find exciting is the myriad flavors and features that have begun to appear. Whether it's a video production for product promotion purposes from the release of Warner Brother's Spider Man 3 to Billy Bob and his brother's adventure with a tired opossum caught on video, it's all interesting. But, more important is the purpose of the video site and the content, as technology and creativity continue to evolve. Many sites are quickly seeing the value of gathering and sharing within their own competitive community, as well as developing new technologies for production, publication and comparison. The future looks bright my friends, hang on to your hats.
I have only looked at some of these sites for my own curiosity. Here is:
Blip TV
Category: Category: Upload and share videos with publishing options
Ease of use: The first thing that strikes you about blip.tv is the clean structure and well-separated content. He doesn't overuse colors or dark space. But the most useful feature has to be the scrollable channel selection on the main page. You can easily browse the many channels they have to offer with very fast response.
Social media options: blip.tv, you are offered instant and repeatable ping to technorati, as well as cross-posting to Myspace, Flickr and Del.icio.us. Additionally, they feature automatic feeds to Yahoo video, AOL video and MSN video. If monetization is your intention, blip.tv is well connected and considered a big dog in this space.
Speed: The overall rating is Excellent. Their main page is light at 22KB and loads in less than 0.25 seconds.
Content: Very deep content and very well managed. The video database is extensive and the most popular items are very clear. Their video channels are also very creative and professional. You have plenty of options for fun, general entertainment, and even some activism if you so desire. Although I wouldn't categorize it as a funny video site, overall, this video site is very impressive and deserves a lot of credit for the product.
Google Video
Category: Category: Video Upload and Sharing
Ease of use: It's typical Google. The interface is very clean, but just as basic. It doesn't have many details. However, it allows you to add video metadata for all your files as well as a copy. As you would expect, integrating with Google AdSense is a breeze.
Social options: Video verification process is slow and unnecessary, see my thoughts below. Nothing remarkable here.
Speed: Although I'm a little surprised that the main page isn't very light at 130KB. But, of course, they have the fattest pipes on the market at sub .01KB/sec.
Content: “The company's website is the first time that the company's website is available: Google video has six main channels, including comedy and music videos. As expected, the music videos are unlicensed and while fun, it's not what I was looking for. At the top of the TV Shows channel, you can buy “One Hour with Bill Gates on the Charlie Rose Show” for 0.99 cents. Wow, what a deal. I'll fold, but thank you. Frankly, Google is limited in content because of the behemoth it is, and therefore can never show anything that even has a suspicion of a proprietary conflict. Overall, I was very disappointed.
Videocodezone
Category: Category: Video Entertainment Aggregator
Ease of use: This website may be the friendliest of all reviewed, believe it or not. The structure of the channels is very simple (they are listed at the top) and the search interface hits you right in the face from the start. Some additional features include multiple source options for videos (very handy for protected content), a wiki-style video tag search option on the main page, and two separate tabbed panels for most viewed and most recent additions. Very clean.
Social Media Options: Very effective method used here. For each item selected there is a tab and copy option for Myspace, Xanga, Bebo, and even general blog posts for instant embedding. Very simple, very clever.
Speed: KB and excellent upload speed at 0.01KB/s.
Content: Content: Perhaps the only possible downside to this video entertainment website. The content is good, but there are a lot of "unavailable content" links within the music video section, which is the main focus. This is understandable as music video rights are in constant conflict, but it needs to be cleaned up. But overall, as a site focused on music videos and funny videos, Videocodezone does a great job.
Slubber
Category: Category: Video Entertainment Aggregator
Ease of Use: This is one of the sites I manage, but I'll be brutally honest with myself and you. The current interface is very simple, but with no useful options other than search. As an aggregator, it simply indexes from multiple sites in an attempt to find the most relevant content for the user. And in this role he does a good job. But, really at this point, Slubber is pretty featureless. But, that's about to change, as a second revision is on the way. Of course, I will review it again.
Social Networking Options: But seamless integration of the Myspace layout is on the way.
Speed: with loading rates of 0.01KB/sec.
Content: Content is currently average, but there are many feeds from college humor sites. So the content is very different from that of the main players here and hence is worth reviewing. But, clearly, for the next revision the content feed option needs to be upgraded significantly. I recommend checking this site and reviewing again by the end of the summer. Many changes are "coming".
Crackle (formerly Grouper)
Category: Category: Video sharing and entertainment with a focus on publishing
Ease of use: Ease of use: Extremely simple navigation. The main page is loaded with different options to navigate through one of the deep video channels it has. Crackle really focuses on production quality releases and so has geared the main page in those directions. The site could easily be considered its own TV show.
Social Networking Options: RSS is fully integrated with many options for website integration, as well as pre-integrated with all the major players, including Friendster and Del.icio.us. But it doesn't really offer much in the way of personal integration, so don't expect much help from here.
Speed: The main page is light at 12KB, but the load rate is mediocre at best at 0.03s/KB. Does this translate into poor performance for you? No, it doesn't mean. But, compared to other players it is on the slower side.
Content: This is where Crackle shines. Crackle's content is all production quality with some of the most interesting and well-crafted features I've seen on the web. It's obvious that this company is very committed to ensuring content quality over content quantity. There was a long list of quality funny video listings as well as music video channels. I highly recommend a visit but make sure you have plenty of time as there is a lot to see.
Synopsis: "People are too good to make their money:
I wanted to get to a few other entries for this review, but I have a South African Syrah calling my name. I plan to take a deep look at Dogster and Videoegg next round, as well as some older players like Revver, YouTube, and maybe even Viveo.
Overall, all sites were helpful in one form or another. I was definitely more "excited" about Crackle just because of the quality of presentation and content. Videocodezone definitely provided the best integration for social networking. My biggest disappointment was Google Video. Honestly, I found it pointless. Google Video isn't short on cash, but it still seemed the least creative and most protective of its corporate structure. We'll see how it develops. Outside.
