Friday, March 29

Tag: YouTube

YouTube Sharpens How It Recommends Videos Despite Fears Of Isolating Users
Tech

YouTube Sharpens How It Recommends Videos Despite Fears Of Isolating Users

Google’s YouTube has updated its recommendation feature to spotlight videos users are likely to find the most gratifying, brushing aside concerns that such an approach can trap people in bubbles of misinformation and like-minded opinions. The new feature, which arrived in January but has not previously been reported, uses a measure of satisfaction derived from a massive and ongoing user survey to predict and promote videos that people would rank as among the best they have watched recently. The goal is to prevent the negative sentiments that can arise when people watch hours and hours of uninspired programs, said Jim McFadden and Cristos Goodrow, who work on recommendation technology at YouTube, which is part of Alphabet Inc. But the change comes at a time when YouTube and other social m...
YouTube Steps Up Takedowns As Concerns About Kids’ Videos Grow
Tech

YouTube Steps Up Takedowns As Concerns About Kids’ Videos Grow

YouTube stepped up enforcement of its guidelines for videos aimed at children, the unit of Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday, responding to criticism that it has failed to protect children from adult content. The streaming video service removed more than 50 user channels in the last week and stopped running ads on over 3.5 million videos since June, YouTube vice president Johanna Wright wrote in a blog post.  “Across the board we have scaled up resources to ensure that thousands of people are working around the clock to monitor, review and make the right decisions across our ads and content policies,” Wright said. “These latest enforcement changes will take shape over the weeks and months ahead as we work to tackle this evolving challenge.” YouTube has become one of Google...
Google Broadens Takedown Of Extremist YouTube Videos
News

Google Broadens Takedown Of Extremist YouTube Videos

Alphabet Inc’s Google in the last few months has begun removing from YouTube extremist videos that do not depict violence or preach hate, YouTube said on Monday, a major policy shift as social media companies face increasing pressure from governments. The new policy affects videos that feature people and groups that have been designated as terrorist by the U.S. or British governments but lack the gory violence or hateful speech that were already barred by YouTube. A YouTube spokesperson, who asked not be named for security reasons, confirmed the policy in response to questions. The company would not specify when the policy went into effect. As YouTube terms already barred “terrorists” from using the service, the new policy keeps out videos uploaded by others that militants likely ...
Russian Groups Made 43 Hrs Of YouTube Video During U.S. Elections
USA

Russian Groups Made 43 Hrs Of YouTube Video During U.S. Elections

Google has recently revealed reports about Kremlin-linked groups spending around $4,700 on advertising platforms, during the 2016 U.S. elections. These ads were although not targeted to any specific group of users or no evidence of targeting by geography were found. It was also revealed by Google, that its YouTube, which strictly prohibit things like ​hate ​speech, ​violent ​or ​graphic ​content; found 18 channels closely associated with this campaign that made videos, which were in English-language, public, with the political content in them. There ​were ​1,108 ​such ​videos ​uploaded, ​representing- ​43 ​hours ​of ​content ​and ​totaling ​309,000 U.S. ​views ​from ​June ​2015 ​to ​November ​2016. The report also said that these “videos ​were ​not ​targeted ​to ​the ​U.S.” and th...
How China is Blocking the World’s Most Popular Websites
ANALYSIS

How China is Blocking the World’s Most Popular Websites

You might be visiting China and already know that you cannot access your Facebook account and post pictures of your tour, but there are a lot more popular websites that are blocked in China. An army of Chinese government blocks and filters some of the most popular websites in the world. Besides the world's most popular American-video sharing website YouTube and Alphabet Inc's Google, even Twitter and Instagram are blocked in China. This operation of filter is world's biggest operation of online censorship aka The Great Firewall of China. China has 731 million internet users which have really tight restrictions around them. During the Communist party in October, China cramped up its online crackdown, blocking American service- Whatsapp and pornographic websites like hdtubemovies in...
Google Uncovered Russia-Backed Ads on YouTube, Gmail : Source
USA

Google Uncovered Russia-Backed Ads on YouTube, Gmail : Source

Google has discovered Russian operatives spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads on its YouTube, Gmail and Google Search products in an effort to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a person briefed on the company’s probe told Reuters on Monday. The ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated entity that bought ads on Facebook Inc, but may indicate a broader Russian online disinformation effort, according to the source, who was not authorized to discuss details of the confidential investigation by Alphabet Inc’s Google. Microsoft Corp said separately on Monday that it was looking at whether Russians bought U.S. election ads on its Bing search engine or other Microsoft-owned products and platforms. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment further. ...
Pak to lift ban from Youtube soon
News

Pak to lift ban from Youtube soon

Karachi, Jan. 16(ANI): Pakistan is likely to lift the ban on YouTube within days to reciprocate the move by Google, the parent company, which launched a localised version of the website in Pakistan earlier this week. The internet giant, announced the launch of YouTube's localised versions for Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, addressing Islamabad's long-standing dispute regarding the availability of blasphemous content on the world's largest social video sharing platform. YouTube has remained blocked in Pakistan since September 2012, reported The Express Tribune. The Silicon Valley based giant has already taken care of Islamabad's concerns,but the delay in restoring access to YouTube is on part of the IT ministry. The government has made commitments to lift the ban several times ...
Google’s new YouTube video shows you more stuff as you move your phone around
News, Tech

Google’s new YouTube video shows you more stuff as you move your phone around

Google "Special Delivery" 3D, virtual reality video is now on YouTube Google has released an interactive video called "Special Delivery" that shows you more of the film as you move your phone around.It's the first of Google's new "Spotlight Stories" which showcases new kinds of interactive 3D videos. While anyone can view the short YouTube cartoon on any PC or device, this video comes to life by viewing it on the YouTube app on a smartphone or tablet. That's because it's full of "Easter Eggs," i.e. special hidden things you can only see on the YouTube app, as you move the phone. It's particularly designed to work with Google Cardboard, the cardboard box that turns a smartphone into a 3D virtual reality device. But you don't need the Cardboard to see the film in 3D mode...
This One Video Convinced Google to Buy YouTube in $1.65 billion
Story

This One Video Convinced Google to Buy YouTube in $1.65 billion

What is YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's favorite video? The one that convinced her Google needed to buy YouTube. In 2006, Wojcicki was overseeing Google video and in charge of its acquisitions. The search giant was looking at YouTube, then a tiny unprofitable Silicon Valley startup, when Wojcicki stumbled upon a video of two boys in China lipsynching to the Backstreet Boys "As Long As You Love Me." The video of the two boys outrageously lip-synching while their roommate did homework in the background was hilarious to the Google exec, she said onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit. "That was the video that made me realize that 'Wow, people all over the world can create content, and they don’t need to be in a studio,'" Wojcicki said. A light bulb went off in ...
YouTube to support virtual reality video on its app
News

YouTube to support virtual reality video on its app

YouTube announced two new features Thursday for its Android app that expand the video site’s use of virtual reality, giving the new technology its biggest platform yet. The app now supports VR video – a format that gives viewers what the company says are more realistic 360-degree perspectives of films. To view it, a user would call up a virtual reality video on the YouTube app, click a button on the video for VR mode, and place the phone in Alphabet Inc’s “Cardboard” device, a handheld gadget made from the standard box material that creates a VR viewing experience. Makers of virtual reality content can upload VR videos compatible with the Cardboard viewer directly to YouTube. YouTube said there are about a dozen VR videos, including one stemming from the R...
YouTube offers subscribers paid option with no ads
News

YouTube offers subscribers paid option with no ads

Reuters- Alphabet Inc's YouTube will launch a $10-a-month subscription option in the United States on Oct. 28 that will allow viewers to watch videos from across the site without interruption from advertisements, the company said on Wednesday. Starting early next year, the service called YouTube Red will add exclusive shows and movies from top YouTube creators including PewDiePie, Lilly Singh and The Fine Brothers. "Consumers are embracing paid subscriptions of ad-free content at an incredible pace," Robert Kyncl, YouTube's chief business officer, said at an event at YouTube's production space in Los Angeles. The effort offers a new source of revenue for YouTube and its video creators. Rival streaming sites such as Vessel and Interactive Corp's IAC.N Vimeo are luring online stars ...