Viral Ad Network

As our video gadget is a customised version of the standard YouTube player, we work with a wide range of videos that are hosted on the site on a daily basis.

It would seem only right, then, that we have a good idea about the goings-on, upfront and behind the scenes, at the worlds biggest video-sharing platform, and so it’s important for us to be up to date with the latest and greatest features and developments to the site in an effort to make your lives easier!

But…it would be pretty selfish of us to keep all of this insightful knowledge to ourselves, and so here is the first of our Monthly instalment (starting from August 2012) of ‘YouTube News – In association with VAN’ -Enjoy!!

August 2nd: Update to the Homepage Feed
Several changes took place to the homepage feed to provide a better viewing experience:
- Bigger video thumbnail with more information about uploader activity
- More control over what viewers see in their feed: ability to hover over items and choose to hide/opt out/unsubscribe from specific users
- A differentiated view of videos already watched

August 14th: YouTube App for PS3 Lands
YouTube released the new App for PS3 for free from Playstation Store. Although gamers may have watched YouTube on PS3 before, the App offers a completely new experience – designed for the big screen and optimised for the PS3. The App includes: Search suggestions and instant video results when typing; Subscribed channel sign in, which includes official music videos; and the ability to control YouTube on PS3 using a smartphone.

August 28th: Video Tags: Just for Uploaders
Video tags (aka keywords) are no longer to be displayed to viewers of a video on YouTube’s website. They aren’t going away from the video itself, though – the owner of the video can still create tags for new videos and edit tags for existing videos, and video tags will still provide an important signal used to surface relevant results when searching for videos.

September 11th: Google releases standalone iOS YouTube App
YouTube have launched the new iPhone App ahead of the release of the iPhone 5 and iOS6. The new version includes access to thousands of additional videos, notably major-label music videos, which is made possible with now-allowed advertising. The App also features autocomplete search, much like Google Instant, with an emphasis on popular videos.

September 12th: Channels just got simpler to navigate
YouTube have simplified the browsing experience on channel pages by mergng the Feed and Videos tabs into one “Browse videos” tab. This new tab will house all Channel activity: uploads, playlists, likes, activity and comments. Upon clicking the “Browse videos” tab, by default viewers will be taken to Uploads, but they can easily view other activity using the menu. This change has been made to ensure Channels become easier to navigate.

September 14th: YouTube API on Stack Overflow
Instead of continuing to maintain the dedicated Google Group for YouTube API questions, developers are being encouraged to post questions regarding API on the newer Stack Overflow website using the tag “youtube-api”.

September 18th: YouTube Blocked over controversial video
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh have ordered a block on YouTube in their countries, in protest against Google’s reluctance to block a controversial video that mocks the Prophet Muhammed. A spokesman for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has said “Once the offensive video is removed or blocked, we will restore the YouTube site in our country”.

September 24th: Build a Global Audience on YouTube
YouTube have made it easier to reach a global audience by introducing a tool which translates YouTube video captions into more than 300 Languages.
October 3rd: Improving Content ID
YouTube have recently made three noteworthy updates to the content ID feature – the technologies which let rights owners identify user-uploaded videos comprised of their content and decide what they want to happen when those videos are found (monetize, track metrics or block them).
- A New Appeals Process
- Smarter Detection of Unintentional Claims
- Improved Matching Quality

October 8th: YouTube takes on TV with 60 new channels
YouTube is taking aim at traditional broadcasters with the launch of 60 new channels featuring programmes made by some of the UK’s most respected production companies.
YouTube has teamed up with media companies including Hat Trick, All3Media, and ITN for the UK channels which include the Jamie Oliver Food Channel, BBC Worldwide’s On Earth and Mixmag TV. The plan is believed to be part of a bid to lure viewers away from traditional TV shows to online shows.

October 11th: YouTube chief – ‘mobile will soon eclipse TV’
YouTube’s programming chief has claimed mobile phones will soon be the “first screen”, ranking above the television as the place users go to watch content. Robert Kyncl, head of content for YouTube, dismissed the idea that smartphones and tablet devices are becoming the “second-screen”, battling for viewers attention whilst watching TV – Instead mobiles are the first screens and televisions belong further down the pecking order.

October 11th: YouTube could allow subscription channels
YouTube is looking at giving its original content partners the option to charge users for subscriptions to their channels. Although there are no set plans, if they do go ahead with this approach “The majority will be ad-supported, and there will be some that will be paid”, according to head of content Robert Kyncl.

It’s time to stand up against a growing trend in online advertising and start the fight against those who make the industry less valuable by flooding the net with what are commonly known as #badads.

From the VAN towers we would like to introduce you a new personal project from two members of our team, the #badads TUMBLR project whoisthecreativedirector.tumblr.com

How it started?

Christine and I are daily blog consumers, the digital world is our habitat and also our work. As part of our job, we are constantly browsing the web searching for good content and we have eventually come to a conclusion regarding online advertising: #badads are EVERYWHERE! The quality of a site’s content doesn’t seem equivalent to its advertising, no matter how well-known, well-reputed or well-written the site is. It is strange how publishers curate their content and completely overlook the quality of the advertising displayed, as if it was a lost cause.

So, we want to stop this from happening and raise a bit of awareness on behalf of creativity and intelligence, there’s so much scope for advertising to be entertaining and funny!

What a #badad is?

The name explains it all. It is not about whether we like an ad or not, it is about ads that are an insult to human intelligence, such as misleading claims, tricks to accomplish miraculous changes on your appearance or just easy money for the sake of clicking on it.

How to get involved?

We will be browsing the web, naming and shaming crummy advertising that promises to make your dreams come true by just clicking on an ad. We will post them on our Tumblr and we need your help as well – so when you’re subjected to a bad ad make sure you let us know and send it in to us through the ‘Submit Bad Ads‘ section. Get involved and together we can beat bad ads!