YouTube Terms of Service Updated

January 19, 2010

I have been thinking about Google and rich media. Rich media means multimedia. Multimedia means YouTube. These terms are important because Google uses a wide range of words and phrases to describe its rich media services and capabilities.

On January 14, 2010, Google posted “YouTube’s APIs and Refresher on our Terms of Service”. The write up does a good job of highlighting the major changes. My view of the changes is that they nudge the YouTube service forward to commercial payoff land.

For example, the point “Videos belong to their owners” is a gentle reminder that Google’s innovations in giving content owners a control panel on which to input settings is an important function. The more content owners input the rules for a particular content object, the more useful the Google control panel or content owner dashboard becomes in the upload process.

The focus on the YouTube video player is a reminder that consistency for Google is a positive. Google is pointing out that certain actions are not making the Google happy; for example, enable videos for download.

The third point is that the Google wants ads left alone. Period. Stripping ads is a no no. The person who wants to monetize a video can read the API monetization guide. If you have not looked at this API, it is worth a quick look. You can find the API monetization guide with some helpful links on the Google Code page in the write up “Using the YouTube APIs to Bu9ild Monetizable Applications.” We geese at Beyond Search think this is a pretty important chunk of info, by the way.

Finally, Google wants those who do charge for a video to make clear that Google is not charging. My hunch is that Google gets email complaining about fees for some YouTube videos and Google doesn’t have time to handle that type of email. Heck, Google has a tough time handling email for the Nexus One phone. It doesn’t need more email about an issue a content provider causes. Just my opinion, gentle reader.

You may want to add the YouTube API blog to your newsreader if you are into rich media, multimedia, video, or related content types.

Stephen E Arnold, January 19, 2010

A short article I wrote without anyone, including a TV or motion picture company, paying me for the effort. Is the Oscar committee in charge of this type of write up and disclosure. I will report to them to be sure.

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, Financial, Google, News, Rich media

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.