Now, YouTube is announcing the most recent additions. They’ve introduced a new playlist design and introduced an AutoPlay On/Off switch that controls whether you automatically go to the next video or not. Users can now queue their search results, building a mini playlist. Lastly, the “comments section now lists both text and video responses, bringing together the whole spectrum of conversation going on around a video”.

What changes would you like to be made to YouTube?

YouTube’s one billion daily views also sheds light on the sheer amount of traffic it receives. How has YouTube been so successful? According to their blog, their commitment to the following has been the foundation to their achievements: video speed, length of videos and the use of open platforms. As YouTube CEO Chad Hurley writes, “we wanted to create a place where anyone with a video camera, a computer, and an Internet connection could share their life, art, and voice with the world, and in many cases make a living from doing so”. AS many companies have learned, YouTube can be a gateway to maximum exposure and positive customer growth.

Are you using YouTube to its fullest potential?

How are the numbers broken down? Mashable reports, “YouTube was #1 with 7 billion total streams and about 104 million unique viewers. Hulu was second with 383.7 streams, but with only 10.3 million viewers… Hulu is able to engage users, but it still doesn’t have the reach of YouTube, or even of Yahoo (265 million streams, 30 million viewers) or MSN/Microsoft (188 million streams, 17.8 unique viewers)”. As users flock to the Internet for video viewing (some even replacing television usage), it is becoming increasingly important that businesses and organizations are in front of this audience and capitalizing on the venue. After all, YouTube is considered the second largest search engine (with its owner, Google, at the top). YouTube has taken notice in its potential by introducing features such as paid advertisement and emphasizing its search functions.

How are you using video to better serve your business or organization?

What are the main differences? “Their videos are wider. They’re left-aligned. The content is better compartmentalized. Profiles information is pushed below the fold, and better organized. The entire layout is centered around playlists”. While it isn’t clear when the old channels will be converted to the new look, YouTube does have a blog set up for the new implementations. As of today, users that create a channel will have the new design.

According to Mashable, “If there’s video available for a given story, you’ll now see a YouTube icon under the snippet about the news. Click it and the YouTube video drops down, and can be watched right from the Google News page”. Google could have a few positive results with this addition if they see success. For one, more media and news coverage sites could collaborate with Google. Also, YouTube will get even further exposure, which may lead to success for their advertising.

This is an easy avenue for Google to get into, as it owns video giant, YouTube. Adage reports that at first, “the videos will get promotion as “featured videos” on YouTube’s home page, but Google may combine that with a media buy across the content network that would see the videos placed as display ads across the web”. The eleven videos feature the many elements of the Chrome browser. Will Google’s campaign truly go viral? Only time will tell if the series of eleven videos will make an impact on its marketing efforts.

As Mashable describes, “Microsoft is turning to what they hope will be viral video. The company somewhat infamously tried this last year with a multi-million dollar campaign featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, but this time around, is going a bit more grassroots”. The main video describes the history of the web. Additionally, Microsoft has created a page that promotes the campaign. Within the page are more videos as well as options to share on other social media platforms. But can YouTube videos change the opinion of users and get them back to use Internet Explorer?

According to Reuters, “Universal, the world’s largest music label, and YouTube, the No. 1 U.S. video website, are in talks to create a stand-alone site to showcase music videos by Universal artists”. This will not only help YouTube with monetization, but it can also bridge ties with the music industry, which has had some trouble with YouTube due to copyright laws. With the music industry struggling, the partnership with YouTube could definitely help reach a wider audience. This partnership could be mutually beneficial, if it does in fact happen.

BusinessWeek.com’s article on video optimization states, “one-fourth of U.S. Google searches (and more in other parts of the world) return videos in the results”. How do videos make it to the first page of Google? A lot of the same tactics used in traditional SEO can also help video optimization. For instance, the right titles on a video can be the difference between something going viral, and something being lost in the many search results both on Google and on video sites such as YouTube. Nevertheless, SEO is ever-changing, and video optimization will definitely not be the final innovation available.

Another way in which Google is trying to bring revenue into YouTube is through ads.  Google is currently testing a system which will generate ads similar to those of Google AdWords. For example, when a user searches for a certain video, ads for related products, movies, etc. will also appear.  Ads for a product’s own YouTube channel might also appear. With the power of Google, YouTube may find a way to generate revenue in the future.