1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: Text with technology with tech Stuff from stuff works dot com. 2 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I am your host, 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I am an executive producer here at how 4 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: stuff Works and I love technology. And if you listened 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: in our last episode, I talked about the founding of 6 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: YouTube back in two thousand five and really only got 7 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: up as far as two thousand seven. It really didn't 8 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,520 Speaker 1: take long for me to get through a full episodes 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: worth of material, although to be fair, I did backtrack 10 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: a bit to talk about the early days over at PayPal, 11 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,160 Speaker 1: because the founders of YouTube started at PayPal. But those 12 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,239 Speaker 1: first two years of YouTube, we're incredibly important. Around that 13 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: same time YouTube emerged from beta, there were dozens of 14 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: other sites that were trying to become the home for 15 00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: web streaming video. But YouTube's conversion tools made it really 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: easy to upload files, meaning that the site can handle 17 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,839 Speaker 1: several different file formats, and it took all the work 18 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: of converting those into the format that YouTube was using 19 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: to display them on the web all on its own, 20 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 1: so users didn't have to worry about having their video 21 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: forms files in a specific format. YouTube could accept just 22 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 1: about anything, or at least several of the major ones 23 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: in that time. So YouTube became a big player in 24 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: the space, ultimately becoming big enough for Google to swoop 25 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: in and buy the company for the princely some of 26 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: one point six five billion dollars. Well by two thousand seven, 27 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: Google owned the company and fun tidbit. The deal to 28 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: purchase YouTube was apparently done in the parking lot of 29 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: a Denny's. That's according to Gideon You, who had worked 30 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: at Yahoo before moving over to become YouTube's first chief 31 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: financial officer. Yeahoo had also been one of the early 32 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: suitors for YouTube, so imagine how different things would have 33 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: been if that deal had gone through. Now, one of 34 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: YouTube's three founders, Joe Ed Kareem, had left the company 35 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: by the time Google was acquiring it, the remaining to 36 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: Steve Chen and Chad Hurley stayed on with YouTube. In fact, 37 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: Chad Hurley was the CEO of the company and remained 38 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: so until Steve Chen was YouTube's chief technology officer, and 39 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: both founders would stay with YouTube till now. One thing 40 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: I left out of the last episode was that time 41 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: Magazine had used YouTube's user interface design in its Person 42 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: of the Year issue. Now you might remember this. That 43 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: was the year when you were named Person of the 44 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: Year and and no, not not you specifically, but the 45 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: you in the general sense. I think what the magazine 46 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: was getting at was that user generated content was becoming 47 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: a powerful force in the online world. Suddenly you had 48 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: platforms like YouTube that were able to give average people 49 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: the opportunity to make their voices heard to the war 50 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: at large, and it suddenly seemed possible for a young 51 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: storyteller to bypass the traditional pitfall filled path of finding 52 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: success with a direct conduit to an audience. Of course, 53 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: this was also in a time before hundreds of hours 54 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 1: of content joined YouTube's platform every single minute, which made 55 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: it increasingly difficult for any one piece of content to 56 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: be discovered on the platform. But we'll talk about that 57 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: more later. In March two thousand seven, YouTube announced it 58 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: would honor the best user created videos on its site 59 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: with a special awards ceremony, and they launched the YouTube 60 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: Video Awards, with nominees curated by YouTube itself. Users had 61 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: the opportunity to vote on their favorites, but they couldn't 62 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: just nominate anything. They could only vote on the ones 63 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: that the company nominated. Categories included most Creative, most Inspirational, 64 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: Best Series, Best Comedy, Musician of the Year, Best Commentary, 65 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: and Most Adorable Video Ever. Winners of those first awards 66 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: included Aska Ninja for Best Series and Okay Goes Video 67 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: for Here It Goes Again for most creative That's the 68 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: video with all the treadmills. YouTube would hold a similar 69 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: awards event the following year, and then it just sort 70 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: of quietly vanished after two thousand eight. YouTube would later 71 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 1: launch an award show specifically for music videos, and they 72 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: held that event in but mostly the company sat back 73 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: and let numerous other organizations step in to take over 74 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: the awards game. See also the Webbies, the stream E's, 75 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:44,039 Speaker 1: the Online Video Awards, and more. YouTube helped legitimize user 76 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: created content, and they turned it into an industry. Not 77 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: everything was worth putting money behind, but there were more 78 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: than a few creators who stuck struck a chord with 79 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: their respective audiences, and they got tons of views as 80 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: a result and actually began to make a living once 81 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: YouTube allowed them to monetize those videos. Because in the 82 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,599 Speaker 1: early days, just because you had a video that was 83 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: getting lots of traction didn't mean you were making any money. 84 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: You couldn't serve up and add against it for a 85 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: while until until YouTube started to create the partners program. 86 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 1: Early on, YouTube was working with larger outlets like established 87 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 1: media outlets, and gradually they began to also partner with 88 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: individuals and made two thousand seven, something truly historic happened. 89 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,720 Speaker 1: Prankster's on four Chan, which some have described as the 90 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: Internet equivalent of moss Eisley. In other words, it's a 91 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: hive of scum and villainy, began a meme that occasionally 92 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:42,799 Speaker 1: still pops up today, more than a decade later, although 93 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 1: it's not as frequent as it was and it's heyday. 94 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: That meme was to drop a link to a specific 95 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: YouTube video, but you would claim it was showing something 96 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: that would get a lot of point folks to to 97 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: click on the video. You you would make up something. 98 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: Maybe you would say it was supposed to be the 99 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: trailer to an anticipated video game. So, for example, in 100 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: the early days, one of the claims was, oh, this 101 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: link will take you to a trailer for Grand Theft 102 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,280 Speaker 1: Auto four, Or you might say that it was a 103 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: video of a famous person in a compromising situation, but 104 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: what the link actually sent you to was someone who 105 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: was there to let you know he's never gonna give 106 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: you up. He's never gonna let you down, He's never 107 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: going to run around and hurt you. Yep. Made two 108 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: thousand seven, just two years after YouTube had even entered 109 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: into beta, we got the first rick roll. That's how 110 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: old that joke is. YouTube branched out beyond the United States. 111 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: In two thousand seven, the company launched its service in 112 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: nine countries, including the United Kingdom, and the company also 113 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: formed a partnership with E M I, which used to 114 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:52,719 Speaker 1: be a thing. In fact, it used to be a 115 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: really big thing. E M I was a conglomerate, so 116 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: it's a group of various record labels and collectively it 117 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: was the fourth largest record company in the world. E 118 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: M I was a powerful traditional media company back in 119 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: two thousand seven, and just a few years later it 120 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: would find itself billions of dollars in debt, and ultimately 121 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: it was sold off in various chunks to other companies 122 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: like City Group, Vivendi's Universal Music Group, and as well 123 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: as a business owned by Sony and a TV. But 124 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: in two thousand seven, this was a really big partnership. 125 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: In July two thousand seven, YouTube gained even more mainstream 126 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: attention when it partnered with CNN to host a presidential debate. 127 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: Citizens in the United States were invited to submit video 128 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: questions for the debate, and the July debate was for 129 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: nominees in the US Democratic Party, so it was the 130 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: Democratic hopefuls for the candidacy of president. The Republican presidential 131 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: debate also aired on YouTube, but that happened later in November. 132 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: The following year, two thousand eight, seven of the sixteen 133 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: presidential hopefuls had created videos for YouTube announcing their campaigns, 134 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: so it was the beginning of the politically savvy recognizing 135 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: YouTube as a way of reaching out to their potential constituents. 136 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: According to The Telegraph, YouTube began receiving ten hours worth 137 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: of video every minute. Today that number is more like 138 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: four hundred hours uploaded every minute. It's literally impossible to 139 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: watch everything on YouTube because by the time you finished 140 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: watching even a short video, hundreds or even thousands of 141 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: other videos have joined the platform. Now, I mostly say 142 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:38,560 Speaker 1: this to get it out of the way, since otherwise 143 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: this episode and the next one would have every other 144 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: fact be a boost in the number of hours uploaded 145 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: every minute. I'd say, well, by now it was forty 146 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: hours every minute or eighty hours every minute, and that 147 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: just gets tedious. I'll in some episodes with some other 148 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: interesting statistics about YouTube usage, but for now, let's get 149 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: back to the history of the company. Before are we 150 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: say goodbye to two thousand seven. I thought it might 151 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: be fun to mention some of the videos that got 152 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: the most traction that year, and I'll do this for 153 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: the following years as well. At the tail end of 154 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: the year, the first episode of Drunk History went up 155 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: on YouTube, and if you're not familiar with the concept, 156 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: inebriated people, typically comedians, tried to relate some moment of 157 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: historical significance to the host of the show, and their 158 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: stories are inner cut with re enactments of that historical event, 159 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: with characters lips sinking to the voiceover to comedic effect. 160 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,040 Speaker 1: It's actually a pretty funny series. One infamous video that 161 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: went up that year was the Leave Brittany Alone video clip, 162 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: in which Chris Crocker tearfully admonished the press for hounding 163 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: his beloved Brittney Spears. Numerous parodies of his video would follow. 164 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: Will Ferrell got a lot of views with a sketch 165 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: that went up on YouTube the Landlord Sketch, in which 166 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: he faced off against a very young, very tiny landlord 167 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: who took no crap. This was also the year that 168 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: Andrew Meyer gave us the phrase don't taze me bro oh. 169 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: And in two thousand seven, we also learned about a 170 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: particular type of precipitation a k a. Chocolate rain thanks 171 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: to Mr tezon Day. The video from that year which 172 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: has received the most views over time is I'm a 173 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: Gummy Bear, which I had never heard of before, and 174 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: yet it is the most viewed video from two thousand 175 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: seven over time, not necessarily just within that year. It's 176 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: a novelty song. Uh. It's received more than one billion 177 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: views at this point, although it took a long time 178 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: for it to accrue that many. Oh. Also in two 179 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: thousand seven, before I finish, one other thing happened, a 180 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: baby named Charlie bit a kid's finger. In two thousand eight, 181 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: YouTube formed partnerships with big media companies like CBS, MGM, 182 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: and lions Gate in an effort to become more of 183 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: a competitor in branded entertainment. YouTube was trying to compete 184 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: against a rising star in branded media online called Hulu. 185 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: Later on it would be Hulu and Netflix, and then 186 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 1: later still Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Video. The agreement allowed 187 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: these various studios to upload full length films or television 188 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,599 Speaker 1: shows onto YouTube. They could serve the videos up alongside advertisements, 189 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 1: and the videos appeared in a category called shows that 190 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 1: would appear on the homepage, so you could just click 191 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: on the show's tab and see the things that were 192 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 1: up for offer. This feature was originally only available in 193 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: the United States. And when I say it was served 194 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: up against ads, a lot of those were static ads 195 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: that were actually on the page on YouTube. They weren't 196 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: video ads incorporated into the video the way they are today. 197 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: And this was really an attempt for YouTube to make 198 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: more revenue from its service. The company had found it 199 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: challenging to serve up ads against short videos, and it 200 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: found fuel to renatives to generating revenue. In fact, according 201 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: to many sources, the cost of bandwidth and storing all 202 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,199 Speaker 1: those videos in the first place was much more than 203 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 1: the revenue generated by the company. It was a money 204 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,559 Speaker 1: losing proposition. Some people even say that some of that 205 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 1: was hidden from Google during the acquisition process in order 206 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 1: to try and sweeten the deal as much as possible, 207 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: although I've not seen anything to really back up those 208 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: claims with facts. Also in two thousand eight, YouTube was 209 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: awarded a Peabody Now the Peabody Awards, named after philanthropist 210 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: George Peabody, are meant to honor powerful and enlightening stories 211 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 1: in media like television and radio. YouTube received a Peabody 212 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 1: in two thousand eight because the site's design allowed users 213 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: around the world to upload video directly to the platform 214 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: bypassing other hurdles, and thus the Peabody Awards said that 215 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,479 Speaker 1: YouTube was promoting democracy by giving voices to the voiceless. 216 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,319 Speaker 1: Over the summer of two thousand eight, hardware manufacturers began 217 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: to incorporate YouTube directly into their products. The Sony Bravia 218 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: television set released in June two thousand eight, had a 219 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,079 Speaker 1: YouTube feature incorporated into it, giving Bravia owners the option 220 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: to watch YouTube videos directly on their television sets. In July, 221 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: Tvo followed suit and built YouTube functionality into its digital 222 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 1: video recorders. In December two thousand eight, YouTube launched a 223 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 1: new landing page for high definition video. The company had 224 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,319 Speaker 1: been rolling out HD video capabilities over the course of 225 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 1: about a month, and went live with this new landing 226 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: page in mid December. This change also meant that the 227 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: video players appearance was a little different. It was now 228 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: in widescreen format. Of course, streaming video and HD means 229 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: sending more data over the Internet, which also means more 230 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: expensive bandwidth bills. The earliest implementation saw HD at seven 231 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: twenty resolution. Later on the following year, in two thousand nine, 232 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,559 Speaker 1: YouTube would bump that up to ten a DP resolution. 233 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 1: So which videos were people watching in two thousand and eight, 234 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,960 Speaker 1: While there was Star Wars? According to a three year old, 235 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: that was a popular video in which an unspeakably adorable 236 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: little girl attempted to explain what Star Wars is all 237 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: about and pretty much gets it right as far as 238 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:18,600 Speaker 1: I'm concerned, people started watching a video channel featuring a 239 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: character called Fred Figglehorn, a high pitched, manic, little child 240 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: character played by not a little child person. His frantic 241 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: video struck a chord, and in the following year his 242 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,239 Speaker 1: channel would become the first to hit one million subscribers 243 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: on YouTube. I didn't really get the appeal because I 244 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: found it a little too manic and high pitched and crazy, 245 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: and I'm old. A video in which two people froze 246 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: in place at New York City's Grand Central Station, got 247 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: a ton of views, and it also helped push the 248 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: concept of flash mobs into the public consciousness, So you 249 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: have that to blame partially. Thankfully, we've mostly moved on 250 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: from that idea at this point, and those were the 251 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 1: big ones for two thousand and eight. Now I've got 252 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: a lot more to say about these middle years of YouTube, 253 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: but before I jump into the next section, let's take 254 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: a quick break to thank our sponsor. In early two 255 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: thousand nine, US President Barack Obama launched a YouTube channel. 256 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: A few weeks later, the Pope launched one. YouTube was 257 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,760 Speaker 1: quickly becoming an outlet for leaders, celebrities, and others to 258 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: speak to a potentially large global audience, and it was 259 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: a way to become related relatable to the average person, 260 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: or at least the average person who was using YouTube. 261 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 1: In April two thousand nine, YouTube signed an agreement with 262 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: Vivendi to create a music videos service called Vivo. Vivo 263 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: would distribute official music videos on YouTube in an effort 264 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: to sidestep the piracy issues companies had encountered over the 265 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 1: last few years. So you can actually watch official music 266 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: videos in instead of seeing someone who had shot a 267 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: video off of their television or otherwise pirated the content 268 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: and uploaded it under their own channel, and it gave 269 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: people an authorized source for that kind of content. According 270 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: to Fast Company, YouTube was serving up more than one 271 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: billion video views per day by October two thousand nine, 272 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: but also according to various sources, at this point, YouTube 273 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: still had yet to turn a profit. Fast Company sites 274 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: analysts who estimated YouTube and earned about two hundred forty 275 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: million dollars from ad revenue in two thousand nine, which 276 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: is a healthy chunk of change, no doubt about it, 277 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: But those same analysts said that YouTube's expenses in storing 278 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: and streaming that video were probably closer to seven hundred 279 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: million dollars, So spending seven hundred million to make two 280 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: hundred forty million yikes. But don't worry, there's always money 281 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,960 Speaker 1: in the banana stand. Also in October two nine, the 282 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:06,199 Speaker 1: British broadcast channel Channel four not part of the BBC, 283 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: but Channel four, signed a deal with YouTube that had 284 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: the streaming service offering up full length episodes of Channel 285 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: four shows shortly after they aired on television. The deal 286 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: involved an undisclosed ad revenue sharing deal. And was set 287 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: to last for three years. YouTube said it was the 288 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: first deal that saw a broadcaster engage in a comprehensive 289 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,880 Speaker 1: catch up TV strategy on the platform, and the first 290 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: episodes found their way onto YouTube in early so catch 291 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,880 Speaker 1: up TV. The concept is that you can see the 292 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,239 Speaker 1: episodes that you would have missed otherwise, maybe you were 293 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,680 Speaker 1: out of the house, you didn't have a DVR. It's 294 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: a pretty simple concept, but it was a big deal 295 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: for this to happen back in two thousand nine. It 296 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: actually set the stage for that happening on a grander 297 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,880 Speaker 1: scale later on. Also included shows like Peep Show, which 298 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: stars Mitchell and Webb, two of my favorite comedians from England. 299 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: All right, so, some of the videos they got a 300 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: lot of us in two thousand nine included Okay goes here, 301 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: Here he goes again. Treadmill video. That one got a 302 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: lot of us in two thousand nine, even though it 303 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: previously had had a debuted, but it was one that 304 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: really struck a chord. It was one of those that 305 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: kind of it was almost like a sleeper video that 306 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 1: took off a while after it had hit YouTube, and 307 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:27,239 Speaker 1: it really set a bar for the band that they 308 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: have surpassed a few times. Since then, they've become known 309 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 1: for their very creative and sometimes heads scratching, lee complicated 310 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,439 Speaker 1: music videos. Another popular one from two thousand nine was 311 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 1: Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. You might remember her 312 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 1: singing a song from Laby Zarabla that brought the house down. 313 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: We also got to enjoy the effects of anesthetic on 314 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: a young kid in the video David after dentist. That 315 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,640 Speaker 1: kid by this point as a teenager, and I wonder 316 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 1: if he still gets plagued by people saying how many 317 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,639 Speaker 1: fingers do you have? They Avid? Another popular video featured 318 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: a couple named Jill and Kevin, and they danced down 319 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: the wedding aisle with their entire wedding party in a 320 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 1: choreographed number. They ended up inspiring tons of other videos 321 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: and an episode of the Office. So, I mean, who 322 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: can ask for more? You get married and do the 323 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: way you take the aisle ends up becoming a plot 324 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: point for a hit sitcom. That's pretty impressive, So let's 325 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: move on up to two thousand ten. In January of 326 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 1: that year, YouTube first began to offer up movies for 327 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: rent on its service. This put it into more direct 328 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: competition with services like Netflix, Hulu, and iTunes. YouTube began 329 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 1: with movies that were getting buzz at the Sundance Film Festival, 330 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: opening up the chance for people to see movies that 331 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: they might not otherwise get a chance to see if 332 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: they didn't get a wide theatrical release. The service would 333 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,200 Speaker 1: gradually grow to include more mainstream films, and in fact, 334 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 1: you can still do this today. You can rent films 335 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: on YouTube, although I find that a lot of people 336 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: aren't aware of that. They just didn't even realize that 337 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: that was a service that was available on YouTube. YouTube 338 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: implemented a site redesign in March, the first of several. 339 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: Really their goal was to try and keep visitors on 340 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: the YouTube platform longer, because if you stay longer, you 341 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: watch more videos. Watching more videos meant generating more AD revenue. 342 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:34,199 Speaker 1: The redesign removed some clutter from the homepage, reducing the 343 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:38,120 Speaker 1: number of links visible on the screen by half. There 344 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:41,159 Speaker 1: were new playlist tools that were designed to help users 345 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,439 Speaker 1: binge videos and hop around more easily, so they'd have 346 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: fewer reasons to just bounce after watching a video, and 347 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 1: YouTube also simplified the way you would rank videos so 348 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: you might not remember this, but back in the old 349 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 1: days at YouTube, you can actually give a video a 350 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: rank between one and five stars. But starting with that 351 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 1: red design, that was reduced to a simple like or dislike, 352 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: thumbs up or thumbs down. And YouTube's response, you know 353 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: why did they do this? They said that the vast 354 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:18,359 Speaker 1: majority of ranks on YouTube videos were either five stars 355 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: or one star. People either said this is the best 356 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 1: thing that's ever been uploaded to the Internet, or this 357 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 1: is a garbage fire of the video clip and no 358 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,440 Speaker 1: one should ever watch it. There were very few in between, 359 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: and so Google said, well, everyone saying it's either five 360 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 1: or one, let's just do thumbs up or thumbs down. 361 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,120 Speaker 1: Make this simple. So that's what they did. That same 362 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: year saw Dan Savage launch a campaign to help teens 363 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: in the l g t b Q community deal with 364 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: anxiety and depression, offering up advice and counsel for those 365 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:50,960 Speaker 1: being bullied because of who they are. That was called 366 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,679 Speaker 1: the It Gets Better campaign and marked one of the 367 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: more visible and shared online campaigns up to that point. 368 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,040 Speaker 1: YouTube would also play a part in a larger online 369 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: phenomenon tied to a real world conflict. This was the 370 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,639 Speaker 1: Arab Spring, which technically began at the very end of 371 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,160 Speaker 1: Most of the events of the Arab Spring would take 372 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: place throughout two thousand eleven uh from to two thousand twelve. 373 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 1: These events were unfolding, with most of them again being 374 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: in twenty eleven, but there were various protests and demonstrations 375 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: in Arabic nations in the Middle East and North Africa 376 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,159 Speaker 1: that we're all part of this Arab Spring. It began 377 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: in Tunisia and spread from there as people throughout the 378 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: region began to resist what they saw as oppressive regimes. 379 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: Online platforms like YouTube served as an outlet for people 380 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,479 Speaker 1: in those countries to tell their stories to the larger world. 381 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:49,119 Speaker 1: Others included Twitter and Facebook, which were really instrumental for 382 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,360 Speaker 1: that purpose. An event that shook things up at YouTube 383 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: was Chad Hurley stepping down as CEO. The co founder 384 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 1: of the site had been in a leadership position since 385 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,919 Speaker 1: before the Google acquisition. Hurley moved to a more supporting 386 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: advisory role and Solar Commander stepped in to become the 387 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:12,440 Speaker 1: new CEO of the company. Now, Commander came from Google. 388 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: In fact, he was employee number nine over at Google. 389 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: He had graduated from Stanford university, and he had a 390 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: degree in biological sciences, which I admit is not exactly 391 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: the field i'd expect for a tech company executive to possess. 392 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,639 Speaker 1: I'm not exactly sure. I'd love to hear more about 393 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: his story to find out how he was pulled into 394 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,719 Speaker 1: Google and what his contributions were. I mean, I assume 395 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: he also had a lot of education in other sciences 396 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: to make him a very valuable addition to Google's team, 397 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: especially to become employee number nine. The biological sciences doesn't 398 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: really jump to mind when I think of Google the 399 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,159 Speaker 1: search engine. He would remain CEO of YouTube for a 400 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: few years. He would step down to take more of 401 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: a senior vice president role with YouTube and Google in 402 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: two thousand fourteen, but we'll talk more about that in 403 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: our next episode. Hurley co founded a clothing company called Halasca, 404 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: but stuck with YouTube for a while. Longer, and by 405 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: a while, I mean less than a year, and I'll 406 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: get to that in just a second. Toward the end 407 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 1: of twenty ten, YouTube began to lift a restriction that 408 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: had been in place for several years, and that restriction 409 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: was a time limit on video clips. You may not 410 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: remember this but originally users were limited to uploading clips 411 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:33,160 Speaker 1: there were ten minutes long or shorter. In July, YouTube 412 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:35,719 Speaker 1: bump that up to fifteen minutes, but by the end 413 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 1: of twenty ten, the company announced that, starting with a 414 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,720 Speaker 1: selection of users, those time limits would be phased out gradually. 415 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,919 Speaker 1: It became clear that if you were a user in 416 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: good standing, if you had not had a history of 417 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: uploading copyrighted material to YouTube, that you would have those 418 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: restrictions lifted and you would be able to post videos 419 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: of any length to YouTube. I remember, back in the 420 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: original days, you were seeing this because YouTube wanted to 421 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: prevent people from uploading entire television series or movies to 422 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 1: the service. They wanted to limit the length of video 423 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: clips specifically to protect copyrighted material. And you may have 424 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: encountered older videos that slipped under that intellectual property radar, 425 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: in which a show or a film was cut up 426 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: into ten minute chunks, so you'd see something like Back 427 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: to the Future, Part one of ten, Part two of ten, etcetera, etcetera. 428 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: It's not an ideal viewing experience. By the end of 429 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: twenty ten, YouTube's algorithms were getting pretty good at detecting 430 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 1: pirated material and content creators had a larger array of 431 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: tools at their disposal to remove or essentially create uh 432 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: disincentives for unauthorized copies of their work. I could probably 433 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: do a full episode about that content I D system 434 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:03,119 Speaker 1: on YouTube and how it works, but I'm gonna give 435 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:05,919 Speaker 1: you a quick overview here to kind of explain it. First, 436 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:10,520 Speaker 1: content creators would provide Google or YouTube really with files 437 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: of the content they wanted to search against on the platform. 438 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,439 Speaker 1: So let's make this simple with an example. Let's say 439 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: it's a music label searching for instances of people uploading 440 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: the latest song from a band like The Struts. So 441 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: you've got this song from the Struts. You want to 442 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: make sure that there are no unauthorized instances of that 443 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: song up on YouTube. You provide the file to YouTube 444 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,160 Speaker 1: and say I want to search your database against all 445 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 1: videos and see if there are any hits. The file 446 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: that you give YouTube is called a reference file. Google 447 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 1: puts all the reference files into a massive database filled 448 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,880 Speaker 1: with other reference files. Those files might be full length 449 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 1: pieces of content or snippets of longer pieces. And when 450 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: ever a user uploads a new file to YouTube, part 451 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:08,439 Speaker 1: of that uploading process involves comparing that content against the 452 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,640 Speaker 1: database of reference files. So Google looks for matches between 453 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: audio and video elements in the uploaded pieces with anything 454 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: in the reference database. They have these algorithms that look 455 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:24,439 Speaker 1: for matches between audio files in the reference section and 456 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 1: what you've just uploaded, or even just elements of video 457 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: that are common between the two. It's pretty phenomenal when 458 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,840 Speaker 1: you think of it as machine recognition of content. It 459 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,439 Speaker 1: also looks for partial matches clips that could represent a 460 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,240 Speaker 1: hit but are not a one to one match and 461 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: might require further UH investigation to make sure that in fact, 462 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: does represent a violation of copyright. So what happens then? 463 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 1: What happens when Google finds a match between a user 464 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:56,400 Speaker 1: uploaded file and something that's in the reference database, Well, 465 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: that depends upon the copyright holder for the original reference file. 466 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: Copyright Holders have a few different options open to them. 467 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,639 Speaker 1: They can choose a setting that prompts you to to 468 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: block access to the uploaded video entirely and automatically. So 469 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 1: let's say that I upload that Struts song. UH. It 470 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 1: could be that the music label that represents the Struts 471 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 1: has set this so that anytime someone does that, it 472 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: just automatically delists the video. No one can see it. 473 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,479 Speaker 1: It's as if I didn't upload anything at all. Or 474 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,919 Speaker 1: they might choose to redirect monetization or enable monetization to 475 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: go to the copyright holder rather than to the user 476 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,439 Speaker 1: who uploaded the file. So again, if I uploaded it 477 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: and I said, hey, I want to be able to 478 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: monetize this file or this this video, maybe they would say, okay, 479 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 1: you can monetize the video. It's just that all the 480 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:45,360 Speaker 1: revenue is going to come to us, not to you, 481 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 1: because it's our content, not your content. Or they could 482 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: even choose to do nothing at all and allow the 483 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: video to stand as is. Some content creators see this 484 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 1: sort of sharing community as a way of promoting material, 485 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: and they don't see it as competing against their own content, 486 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: so they don't worry about whether or not someone owns 487 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,160 Speaker 1: it when they upload it. And in any case, you 488 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: can even have it set so that you just get 489 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: a notification whenever there is a match, and then you 490 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: decided on a case by case basis. You don't have 491 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: to set your decision in advance and just walk away. Now, 492 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: many people, including myself, have criticized the system for favoring 493 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: copyright holders too much over individual users. There are times 494 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: when it is perfectly legitimate to include someone else's content 495 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: in a piece you are uploading to YouTube. For example, 496 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: if you want to create a video the critiques a 497 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: particular television show or film, and you're using clips to 498 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: illustrate your points, you could argue that that falls under 499 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: the umbrella of fair use. You are commenting upon someone 500 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,600 Speaker 1: else's work and effectively creating new work as a result, 501 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,040 Speaker 1: so it's not that you are just presenting some and 502 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 1: else's copywritten material. You're using that as an example to 503 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 1: make a point. But fair use isn't a magic make 504 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,520 Speaker 1: your video untouchable for free card. It's a legal protection, 505 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 1: and it only comes into play if you actually have 506 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: to defend your use of content in a court of law. 507 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 1: Even then, the court decides whether or not your use 508 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,760 Speaker 1: of original content counts as fair use, and there's not 509 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: really any hard and fast rules to do that. It's 510 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: all subjective. So you might find one of your videos 511 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 1: taken down or demonetized, and at that point you can 512 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: appeal the decision, and then it goes into a somewhat 513 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: mysterious arbitration process where someone has to decide whether or 514 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: not your video has its own merit, or if it 515 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: derives all its value from containing someone else's work in it, 516 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: It's kind of messy and it doesn't always come out 517 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: in a way that you would expect now to be 518 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: fair to YouTube. This process helps keep the company in business. 519 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: If Google did not make a show that it is 520 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: proactive and removing infringing material, the company could be held 521 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 1: responsible for allowing people to pirate content that could lead 522 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: to expensive and lengthy court cases, such as the one 523 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: that was finally settled in two thousand and fourteen with 524 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,200 Speaker 1: YouTube versus Viacom. So I do see all sides of 525 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: this issue. It's just a tough call when there are 526 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 1: many cases of videos that seemed to have legitimate fair 527 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: use arguments getting pulled down, and there have been more 528 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: than a few cases of overzealous copyright holders taking down 529 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: videos that either they put up themselves so they're taking 530 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: down their own stuff, or their videos that didn't contain 531 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: any copyrighted protective material in them. So you might get 532 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: a takedown notice from company and say, there's the thing 533 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: in this video that infringes on any copyrights they own 534 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: because it's all original, it has nothing to do with them. 535 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: Sometimes that does happen, so it's far from perfect. All right, 536 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,320 Speaker 1: Let's get back to the history of YouTube and the 537 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:03,200 Speaker 1: videos that were really popular in One of those would 538 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 1: be a video that helped launch a career into the 539 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,920 Speaker 1: stratosphere and create a phenomenon. That would be Justin Bieber's 540 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: Baby video. Now, Bieber had been uploading covers of various 541 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: songs to YouTube for a couple of years, at least 542 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 1: since two thousand and eight, and had sort of been 543 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: discovered by accident by a producer who signed Biber to 544 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: a record deal. In January, Bieber's video for Baby off 545 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: his first album, hit YouTube and became an instant viral hit. 546 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: It would go on to hit one billion views, although 547 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 1: it still was not the first video to hit a 548 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,360 Speaker 1: billion views. It would just do that over time. In fact, 549 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:44,280 Speaker 1: the first video to reach one billion views wouldn't come 550 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,000 Speaker 1: out for another two years. But I'm not going to 551 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: talk about that yet. After Baby success, the world was 552 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: plunged into a terrible plague called biber Fever. I appear 553 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: to be one of the ones immune to it. I 554 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: promise I'll carry on for all of you. Other big 555 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 1: videos that year included the infamous Bed Intruders song Hidja Kids, 556 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,120 Speaker 1: Hidja Wife. The video saw Antoine Dodson's interview on a 557 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: local news station auto tuned into a song, which inspired 558 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 1: a string of various auto tuned videos, including entire channels 559 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: dedicated to editing videos and putting auto tuning behind them. 560 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: It would also inspire the theme song for the Netflix 561 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:30,480 Speaker 1: show The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Later on, Old Spice launched 562 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,920 Speaker 1: an advertising campaign in twenty ten that reveled in masculine 563 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 1: absurdity and started another trend of tongue in cheek advertising 564 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: that spread to other companies like Duskies and Dollar Shave Club. 565 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:45,840 Speaker 1: We got the double Rainbow video in two and we 566 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: still really don't know what that means. Okay Go did 567 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: another music video that was really intricate and had some 568 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: mind blowing nature to it. It was a Rube Goldberg 569 00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 1: device and it was to the tune of this Too 570 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: Shall Pass. They also did a second music video for 571 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,080 Speaker 1: that song featuring a marching band and Gilli suits. So 572 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: they just were really in a creative spirit at that time. 573 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:13,680 Speaker 1: I think still are, to be honest, they still come 574 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:18,360 Speaker 1: out with crazy videos. Was also when a Swedish YouTuber 575 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,480 Speaker 1: called Beauty Pie launched his YouTube channel. He uploaded video 576 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: footage of various video games while providing odd commentary to them, 577 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 1: and over time became insanely popular, eventually becoming the highest 578 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: paid YouTuber on the platform and the YouTuber with the 579 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 1: most subscriptions. Later, he would run into serious trouble with 580 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:43,080 Speaker 1: sponsors and partnerships after posting videos containing everything from racial 581 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:46,920 Speaker 1: slurs to Nazi imagery. Well, I've got a lot more 582 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,520 Speaker 1: to talk about with YouTube until we get to the 583 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:54,279 Speaker 1: next breaking point for the next episode. Before I jump 584 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 1: into this final segment, let's take a quick break to 585 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 1: thank our sponsors. In two thousand and eleven, YouTube introduced 586 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: its live feature, allowing users to broadcast live videos from 587 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: a web camera or smartphone. Smartphones were well on their 588 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 1: way to transforming the online experience. More people were relying 589 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 1: on their mobile devices to access the web and certain 590 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:24,520 Speaker 1: types of content like video. We're more conducive to that, 591 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,400 Speaker 1: though it took a little while for cellular networks to 592 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:30,280 Speaker 1: get fast enough to really make it a good experience. 593 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:34,440 Speaker 1: These days, I think se of all traffic to YouTube 594 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:39,399 Speaker 1: comes from mobile devices, so obviously transformative as far as 595 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: the way we consume content off the Internet. The live 596 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,839 Speaker 1: feature not only gave people the chance to broadcast any 597 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:50,200 Speaker 1: mundane thought they might have to the world at large Twitter, 598 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,800 Speaker 1: but also opened up the doors to user generated news coverage. 599 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,160 Speaker 1: Anyone with a YouTube account and a compatible device could 600 00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:59,919 Speaker 1: stream video to the platform, giving the world a first 601 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: and glimpse into events anywhere. Forget a surveillance state. Now 602 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:08,120 Speaker 1: we live in a world where in many places practically 603 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,120 Speaker 1: everybody has quick access to a camera and a live 604 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:15,640 Speaker 1: feed to the world at large. That year, YouTube also 605 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:20,080 Speaker 1: launched its own original channels. The company acquired the Next 606 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:26,080 Speaker 1: New Networks, a programming distributor and aggregator. Next New Networks 607 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,719 Speaker 1: was a company that partnered with content creators to give 608 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,440 Speaker 1: them more visibility and give videos a better chance of 609 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:35,120 Speaker 1: hooking and audience. YouTube was getting more serious about developing 610 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:39,759 Speaker 1: programming channels and platform specific networks. This was a push 611 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:43,400 Speaker 1: to move away from one off successful viral videos and 612 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:47,040 Speaker 1: to build more sustainable channels that could earn views across 613 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:50,200 Speaker 1: a channel's worth of videos, not just depend upon lightning 614 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,799 Speaker 1: in a bottle. The company continued to redesign its home 615 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:56,640 Speaker 1: page and interface in an effort to encourage even more 616 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,959 Speaker 1: time spent on the site. By the end of more 617 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:04,480 Speaker 1: than three billion videos were being watched every day, and 618 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,600 Speaker 1: while the site had started up in the good old 619 00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,920 Speaker 1: US of A, by two thousand eleven, more than seventy 620 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: of all traffic came from outside the United States. They 621 00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:17,880 Speaker 1: were closing in on one billion active users, and they 622 00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:21,080 Speaker 1: would hit that goal before too much longer. The site 623 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:25,560 Speaker 1: had also created localized versions for twenty five different countries 624 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:29,560 Speaker 1: in forty three different languages. It was a juggernaut and 625 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:33,080 Speaker 1: it was only going to get bigger. In the spring 626 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:37,200 Speaker 1: of two thousand eleven, YouTube software engineer James Zearn gave 627 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,160 Speaker 1: a peek behind the curtain and explained that the vast 628 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:44,840 Speaker 1: majority of YouTube's traffic focused on a relatively small number 629 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:48,760 Speaker 1: of videos. Specifically, he said thirty percent of the videos 630 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:52,400 Speaker 1: on YouTube demanded most of the traffic, with the remaining 631 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:57,760 Speaker 1: seventy remaining relatively unseen. Now that brought up some other questions, 632 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,359 Speaker 1: such as how could YouTube turn a profit with such 633 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:04,400 Speaker 1: a business model, because if your company resources are earmarked 634 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:08,600 Speaker 1: to transcode and store videos, and sev of the videos 635 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: you are using that effort on are never really being 636 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 1: watched only a really getting any traffic? How could you 637 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:21,600 Speaker 1: make money off of advertising? One other thing that happened 638 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,720 Speaker 1: in two thousand eleven was the launch of Google Plus, 639 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:29,960 Speaker 1: Google's attempt to create a social platform again to Facebook. Eventually, 640 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:33,680 Speaker 1: that platform would have a really big impact on YouTube, 641 00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:37,000 Speaker 1: and it was not a positive one. But we'll learn 642 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: more about what happened in the following episode. Two thousand 643 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:43,600 Speaker 1: eleven was also the year that the two remaining co 644 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:47,479 Speaker 1: founders at the company, Chad Hurley and Steve chen would 645 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:50,560 Speaker 1: leave YouTube. Keep in mind that co founder number three, 646 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 1: Joed Kareem, had left just after the Google acquisition. Right 647 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:57,359 Speaker 1: around that time, the two of them founded a new 648 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,759 Speaker 1: company called AVOs Systems a v O s. It was 649 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,360 Speaker 1: a startup incubator. In other words, they created a company 650 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,839 Speaker 1: that could help other tiny startup companies get some momentum 651 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:11,359 Speaker 1: and grow. They would work together at AVOs until two 652 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 1: thousand and fourteen, and at that point AVOs kind of 653 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:18,080 Speaker 1: shed its incubator status and transformed into one of the 654 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:22,279 Speaker 1: companies it had been developing, specifically a company called mixed Bit. 655 00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:25,200 Speaker 1: This was a mobile video platform and it was Chad 656 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:28,640 Speaker 1: Hurley's passion. Hurley became the head of Mixed Bit and 657 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,720 Speaker 1: Chen would depart. He would go on to join Google 658 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:37,320 Speaker 1: Ventures as an entrepreneur in residence. Sounds like a pretty 659 00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:40,200 Speaker 1: sweet title in my mind. That marked the end of 660 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:44,080 Speaker 1: fifteen years of those two friends working together on the 661 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:46,279 Speaker 1: same projects. So it was the end of an era. 662 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:50,480 Speaker 1: But I know what you're asking, What were the really 663 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:54,040 Speaker 1: big videos of two thousand eleven? Right, Well, the most 664 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:55,920 Speaker 1: viewed video of that year was a bit of a 665 00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:00,800 Speaker 1: vanity projects, a music video of an original song featuring 666 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:04,799 Speaker 1: a young woman named Rebecca Black. And if that name 667 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:06,759 Speaker 1: doesn't ring a bell, then you may not be down 668 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:10,320 Speaker 1: with Friday. Two thousand eleven was when the song Friday 669 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:14,560 Speaker 1: hit YouTube and became a huge viral sensation. People loved 670 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,759 Speaker 1: making fun of it, including Stephen Colbert, who performed a 671 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:22,319 Speaker 1: moving rendition of the song on television. Personally, while I 672 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:25,960 Speaker 1: think the song is pretty much vapid and silly, and 673 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:30,360 Speaker 1: the video also very silly, it was a birthday present. 674 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,120 Speaker 1: If my parents had had the money to give me 675 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:34,759 Speaker 1: that kind of a gift when I was a kid, 676 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,680 Speaker 1: you better believe I would have asked for it. I 677 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,000 Speaker 1: just lived in a or grew up in a in 678 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:42,000 Speaker 1: an era where you didn't have to worry about your 679 00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:45,720 Speaker 1: goofy birthday wishes being broadcast to the world at large 680 00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:49,560 Speaker 1: and then being held up as a thing of ridicule. 681 00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:53,960 Speaker 1: Uh that being said, it is it is remarkably bad. 682 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:58,719 Speaker 1: Other videos that were popular in this time included one 683 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:02,040 Speaker 1: in which a a dog was being teased about food 684 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,799 Speaker 1: like a sandwich. The video included a voice over to 685 00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:09,359 Speaker 1: give us the dog's reactions, which mostly involved being really 686 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:11,759 Speaker 1: sad that the dog's owner claimed to not only have 687 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:15,200 Speaker 1: either thrown away or eaten a lot of food, but 688 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:18,080 Speaker 1: even gone so far as to give a sandwich to 689 00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:21,520 Speaker 1: the cat. There's a cute video of twin babies having 690 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:25,560 Speaker 1: a babbling conversation with one another gets pretty intense. The 691 00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:29,080 Speaker 1: nan Cat debuted in two thousand eleven and infected our 692 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:32,640 Speaker 1: brains with an Naan song along with rainbows and pop tarts. 693 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,719 Speaker 1: There was a Volkswagen commercial featuring a kid using the 694 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:39,640 Speaker 1: Force Star Wars style that got a lot of views. 695 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:44,440 Speaker 1: And this brings me to the point where I mentioned 696 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:46,799 Speaker 1: that YouTube is kind of remarkable because it's the place 697 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:50,600 Speaker 1: where people will go and seek out commercials, whereas in 698 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:53,960 Speaker 1: nearly every other venue. You can imagine people go out 699 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:57,520 Speaker 1: of their way to try and avoid watching commercials. It's 700 00:41:57,560 --> 00:41:59,600 Speaker 1: an odd thing, but I guess it all is when 701 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,520 Speaker 1: you watch on your time versus when it's forced upon you. 702 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:09,319 Speaker 1: In two thousand twelve, YouTube was getting four billion views 703 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:13,000 Speaker 1: every day. Now you might wonder how that breaks down. Well, 704 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:15,200 Speaker 1: if you break it down, it means that there are 705 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:19,960 Speaker 1: forty six thousand, two hundred nine six views being generated 706 00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:23,439 Speaker 1: every second. And that was also the year that first 707 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:27,839 Speaker 1: saw the first video to hit one billion views, though, 708 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:30,399 Speaker 1: as I've mentioned already, some videos that had been up 709 00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 1: on the site for a few years would eventually hit 710 00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:36,759 Speaker 1: that milestone as well. The video was, as I'm sure 711 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:40,360 Speaker 1: most of you know, the music video for a Gongnam 712 00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:43,799 Speaker 1: style by the artist's side. Now, this was a real sensation, 713 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:47,520 Speaker 1: with tons of references and parodies to follow, But the 714 00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:51,600 Speaker 1: music video itself, it's just an incredibly absurd and surreal 715 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:55,640 Speaker 1: series of scenes set to infectious music. It's a video 716 00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:59,000 Speaker 1: of excess and silliness, and it played right into YouTube 717 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,320 Speaker 1: sweet spot for videos that have wide share. Herbal appeal 718 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:04,640 Speaker 1: is the sort of thing people would watch and then 719 00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:07,719 Speaker 1: immediately sent to their circle of friends. Who would then 720 00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:10,239 Speaker 1: watch it again and then would send it to their 721 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:12,960 Speaker 1: circle of friends, and so on and so forth. Now, 722 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:17,239 Speaker 1: at the beginning of CEO, Salar Kamanda said that the 723 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 1: third wave of mass media was breaking, and he identified 724 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:25,440 Speaker 1: the first two waves as the era of broadcast television 725 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,960 Speaker 1: and then the era of cable television. Now, he said, 726 00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:33,680 Speaker 1: was the era of online video, in which more niche 727 00:43:33,760 --> 00:43:37,680 Speaker 1: subjects would receive attention and promotion. So while we saw 728 00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:41,360 Speaker 1: cable channels pop up around focused subjects like food or 729 00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:45,520 Speaker 1: animals or science, these online videos could get even more 730 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,520 Speaker 1: granular than that. They could cater to a smaller but 731 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:53,399 Speaker 1: passionate viewer base. At least, that was the hope, and 732 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:57,040 Speaker 1: YouTube put some money behind that prediction quite a bit 733 00:43:57,080 --> 00:44:00,239 Speaker 1: of an In fact, YouTube partnered with content created years 734 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:06,000 Speaker 1: and formed about one hundred premium content channels. The company 735 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:10,520 Speaker 1: poured around one hundred million dollars into that effort to 736 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:13,560 Speaker 1: both form and promote those channels, followed by another two 737 00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:17,759 Speaker 1: hundred million dollars later on in an investment in advertising 738 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:21,320 Speaker 1: and marketing courtesy of Google. Now, some of those channels 739 00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:25,879 Speaker 1: featured celebrities, some featured YouTubers who had become popular through 740 00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:29,120 Speaker 1: their own channels, and some were partnerships with existing companies. 741 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,439 Speaker 1: All of the channels received investment on some level from 742 00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:36,240 Speaker 1: YouTube to produce their shows. A few famous ones included 743 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:39,600 Speaker 1: source fed, which was founded by Philip DeFranco and had 744 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:42,120 Speaker 1: a lot of notable folks work there for a while. 745 00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:47,759 Speaker 1: Eventually that would get adopted or or acquired really by 746 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:51,400 Speaker 1: Discovery Communications. There was Geek and Sundry, which is a 747 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:54,759 Speaker 1: nerd culture channel helmed by actress Felicia Day and has 748 00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:58,520 Speaker 1: other people like Huil Wheaton in it. Um there's another 749 00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:00,880 Speaker 1: early launch. There were some nals that were part of 750 00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:04,360 Speaker 1: the initial launch. They're still around and thriving. Geek and 751 00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:07,000 Speaker 1: Sundry is one of those that was still around. Source 752 00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:11,359 Speaker 1: Fed after it was acquired by Discovery Communications was eventually 753 00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:15,200 Speaker 1: and effectively shut down and dissolved, kind of absorbed into 754 00:45:15,239 --> 00:45:19,239 Speaker 1: the rest of Discovery Communications online digital efforts. Some of 755 00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:22,680 Speaker 1: those premium channels just sort of faded away without much 756 00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:26,520 Speaker 1: warning or lamentation. Now there's so much more to talk 757 00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:29,319 Speaker 1: about with YouTube, but I feel this is a good 758 00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:32,720 Speaker 1: place to end here. At sort of the beginning of twelve, 759 00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:36,520 Speaker 1: when the premium channels were first announced, In our next episode, 760 00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,160 Speaker 1: we're gonna explore how Google made the decision to unite 761 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:43,920 Speaker 1: YouTube and Google Plus log ins, how that move completely 762 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:47,160 Speaker 1: backfired on the company, how the YouTube Kids app went 763 00:45:47,239 --> 00:45:50,040 Speaker 1: off the rails, and lots more weird stories about the 764 00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:52,279 Speaker 1: third most popular website in the world. So I hope 765 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:55,640 Speaker 1: you joined me for that. If you guys have suggestions 766 00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:58,680 Speaker 1: for topics I should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 767 00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:02,040 Speaker 1: you should write me. My email address for the show 768 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:04,840 Speaker 1: is tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com, or 769 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:07,279 Speaker 1: you can drop a line on Facebook or Twitter. The 770 00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:09,840 Speaker 1: handle of both of those is tech Stuff hs W. 771 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:12,440 Speaker 1: Let me know if there's a topic you want me 772 00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:14,200 Speaker 1: to cover, or a guest you want me to have 773 00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:16,600 Speaker 1: on the show, anything like that. Drop me a line 774 00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:19,320 Speaker 1: and tell me. If you want to watch me record 775 00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:22,719 Speaker 1: these shows live, go to twitch dot tv slash tech Stuff. 776 00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:25,000 Speaker 1: You'll find a schedule there. You can go over and 777 00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:28,200 Speaker 1: join and be part of the chat room and watch 778 00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:31,200 Speaker 1: as I fumble my way through all of the history 779 00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:35,600 Speaker 1: of technology from the dawn of time up until last Wednesday. 780 00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:39,080 Speaker 1: And uh, it's pretty exciting stuff. I look forward to 781 00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:41,040 Speaker 1: seeing you there and I will talk to you again 782 00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:50,240 Speaker 1: about YouTube really soon. For more on this and fathoms 783 00:46:50,280 --> 00:47:00,320 Speaker 1: of other topics, how staff works dot Com eight