I agree that long form video engages the viewer and makes for better ad placement/conversion, however this could cause even more problems for GooTube. Long form pirated content often times stays off Youtube due to the barrier to entry of splitting the file into 10 minute bits, and creating a playlist (non searchable still! ughh).
Mark Cuban's point still stands, Youtube can't monetize long-form video it doesn't own the rights to.
Holger Eilhard
· 1 year ago
Totally agree on it. I guess that's a thing we can learn from old media. My guess on the best duration of a format is about 20-40 minutes, just like TV. I'm also convinced that our TV show (which is also broadcast online) will have to come down from 2 hours a day. But the reasons for this are different.
Also the art of advertisment (that's a book title right there ;) ) is easier on a long show. Pre-roll on a 20 second video, not so much. Who'd watch that, even if it's rather short?
Rodney Rumford
· 1 year ago
all great ideas robert. people that watch the longer videos self filter and you end up with exactly your deeply engaged audience that is much more disposed to opening their wallet. ;)
sent from: fav.or.it [FID188565]
Connor F. Feldman
· 1 year ago
I'm not convinced that this move will work for YouTube. Google is smart though, so I am not counting them totally out on making this work.
paulmwatson
· 1 year ago
Does long-form video show higher conversion rates than short-form video? We've had both for long enough now to do some kind of comparison, surely?
And surely BrightKite wouldn't be advertising on the short-form skateboard video. A skateboard company would be advertising on that video.
To be honest I push any video longer than 5 minutes off of my laptop screen and onto my living room television screen. Long-form video gets interrupted when you are in "laptop, work" mode and you end up not getting engaged.
Rodrigo
· 1 year ago
I watch long form videos on interesting subjects all the time, but I also watch 2 minute skateboard kids for fun. I mean we all like watching silly stuff once in a while. So I'm kinda split here.
John Furrier
· 1 year ago
this is validation for all the naysayers on the long form videos...the value users place on a video is independent on the size of the file but the content in it.
The web is an opt-in platform - if the user wants to watch and get the value they opt-in and long or short doesn't matter. It's the value of the content.
T
· 1 year ago
If I want to watch Family Guy, I'll go to Hulu, not YouTube. Stupid move, Google.
Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
· 1 year ago
In an attempt to prove you wrong, I've posted a short-form video on this topic (at my personal blog - rizzn.com/blog).
It isn't that I think long-form isn't a winner, Robert, but I think that the engagement factor is reliant on a lot more than show length.
matt
· 1 year ago
Mr. Scoble could you do a pole/vote on what you just mentioned if anyone would actually "watch" the video - it would be interesting to see if your theory holds true.
Thanks.
Dave Largo
· 1 year ago
"Because someone who’ll watch a 30-minute video is HIGHLY ENGAGED. "
How is that going to work with today's youth? The average scene of a typical television show is around seven seconds.
Which leads to the conclusion that..... uh, umm. What's trump? Uh, forgot what this post was about.
Steve
· 1 year ago
"T" I'm not sure that's the point Scoble is making. He's been rightly criticized for making long crappy videos. So he's using this announcement to say "See! I've been validated!" But, as Mr. Furrier so accurately notes, it's not the lenght that makes a difference, it's the quality of the content. A long crappy video is a long crappy video . If I'm an advertiser I want my product associated with a quality product. Just because a video is long doesn't mean the content is better.
dustin
· 1 year ago
Vote me in for short form vids, I'm just not following on the long form video. If i can read a summary in 30 seconds, why do i need to sit through a long video? The first time the interview goes off subject or gets boring, I'm out. Perhaps that's just me, but
wait, this post is taking too long...
=)
jenny
· 1 year ago
YouTube will including long form videos like Lost, 60 Minutes, The Daily Show, NBA finals, etc.
They are similar to what you put up on FastCompany.tv in that they both use a device with a light sensor in them to record the information. That is where the similarity ends.
K
· 1 year ago
[sung to You're So Vain]
You're so vain, you probably think this YouTube feature's about you.. You're so vain ...
Txaber
· 1 year ago
Not necessarily. The on-line cooking shows are very popular among the public likely to buy ingredients or tools for cooking.
Mary Zolinett
· 1 year ago
I predict that Google will make this work. They know the ad market, and they will push this like crazy.
Danny Sullivan
· 1 year ago
Um, I'm pretty sure they started out long-form. Then went to 10 minutes to deal with copyright infringement. And now that people are talking to them directly about wanting to upload longer content with permission to do so, going long form sort of is a natural consequence.
Jeremiah Owyang
· 1 year ago
It's not just about 'engagement' Scoble, in fact many users just listen to content while doing other things.
One reason is that they have lots of long form media to now add, INVENTORY exists already.
Ro (Lilyhill)
· 1 year ago
Apples and oranges. I know a Scoble video of any length is more likely to contain something of value to me. But a YouTube video has a higher chance of being hardly worth the effort from the beginning unless it was recommended to me. So I'd rarely bother with a long video there unless I already knew what it was. It's not the length, originally, but who it's from and the subject matter. After that, the advertising hardly matters. Especially since I'd mentally be tuning that out.
Christopher Coulter
· 1 year ago
There are so many variables here, that seeking validation just on account of length, is crazy thinking, eyeballs dot.crash accounting-like. And sometimes mere length is counterproductive, when you can say something in 8 minutes, why have one of your start-up egoists, self-worship-foam-at-the-mouth for 55 minutes? Even the most "highly engaged" can't handle that torture.
Don't have the numbers? Claim that your audience is somehow superior, better than the common peasantry riff-raff, "more engaged" or "connected", sounds good, but it's just a sleight-of-hand trick to make advertisers THINK they are actually getting something, in spite of the horrible ratings. It's a way to make metrics and demographics irrelevant, so you can cue up all the fluffy 'social media' analysts and consultants, to perform Svengali-like magic out of pure air, you know, like Jeremiah and ilk. Shoot up the town, take off with the money before the Sheriff rides in -- which actually is quite nigh, as Web 2.0 isn't making any coin.
But here's where it breaks down, the MORE "engaged", the less tolerant they are of blubber, so your argument really backfires. The ones that aren't as knowledgeable about such topic are more likely to watch hours and hours of bad interview slop. If you know the game, you can't handle the filler or the fakers, and most of the Web 2.0 stone soup is pure fraud.
All TV shows are the same length, yet some succeed and some don't. When's the last time you heard of a show becoming a hit because of how LONG it was? Long form doesn't always work, (esp. given the short-attention span web audiences) nor does such, in any way guarantee your "connected" audiences.
Content, content, content. Demographics, demographics, demographics. So basic commonsensical as to be redundant even stating it.
Steve
· 1 year ago
Scoble, do you have data on how many people actually watch your long videos all the way through? I understand you all the "hits" data in the world. I'm more curious how you actually track viewership. If I'm a sponsor that's what I want to know. Or are all the ads placed at the beginning?
Not This God
· 1 year ago
Google's entire youTube strategy has been bizarre. It seems like they did not have a solid plan when they first started out on this endeavor. It is obvious to even the casual observer that it is easier to advertise on long form videos. People who only have a 20 second attention span are not looking for advertisements.
Wolfy
· 1 year ago
I like the sgort form for two reasons.
1) billions of people are going to watch short vids @ work, before bed, in between reading emails, during commercials. You get WAY more views. So if we can come up with a way to advertise on that we got something. Something more seamless than what they do on broadbandsports.com.
2) I'm interested in Mobile Social Networks, but what do I need a 30 minute podcast for? you tell me bluepulse, i look it up and 5 minutes later I know what I need to know.
I might watch the 30 minute video, but I'll definitely play the 30 min audio podcast for the ride in to the office.
-M
Steve
· 1 year ago
@Not God
It seems consumers of video don't want to watch ads at all. Why is Tivo and other DVR's so popular? Why is there such a market for downloading shows from iTunes and such? Which makes me wonder why Scoble would want to punish his audience even more by polluting his crappy long videos with ads?
Jennie
· 1 year ago
What matters most to viewers is quality content. If you keep their attention for at least the first couple minutes, I'm sure you'll engage them through the whole video. Best way of monetizing is to discreetly place the ads within the video. Just like how movies and music videos have done. Honestly, nobody wants to see ads. Doing it subconsciously works best for both worlds.
Joe Devlin
· 1 year ago
Most of the responses I have seen to this post assume there is only one type of long form video. That's just not true! - And the format used will have a lot to do with the way the audience will respond to that longer video .
In fact, YouTube has added two types of long form video in the last week. * "YouTube Screening Room" is going to air longer films that Google is acquiring from professional producers.
* "YouTube Annotations" lets the rest of us post longer format stuff on YouTube. The trick here is that you need to use new YouTube tools to embed links that jump you from chapter to chapter. This approach will attract a very different type of audience than a 30 minute movie you watch front to back.
I go into more detail about this in my post at CamcorderInfo.com (my posts are on the lower right of the home page).
kp
· 1 year ago
used to be fan...now ur blog is bo-ooring!!!
Long Form Short Form
· 1 year ago
It's nothing to do with long form or short form. It's entirely whether the video is engaging. People will quit a boring video whether it's long or short. People will continue to watch an interesting video, whether it's long or short.
To say that a long form is inherently better than a short form is like saying that a novel is better than a short story.
Measuring creative quality by size completely misses the point. if it were true, then the biggest statues would obviously be more artistic. But that argument is doesn't hold any water.
biosbooter
· 1 year ago
interesting...I never thought that deeply about long form vs. short form....after reading your post, I must agree; however, couldn't you also argue the type who watch 2 minute videos are more hyper active therefore they click more things( i.e. advertisements)
David
· 1 year ago
Depending on my mood and how much time I have, I can watch either short or long videos. If the video is interesting to me, I'm going to take the time to watch it.
pbx
· 1 year ago
just to play devil's advocate... do you think people have the attention span these days for longer content? think twitter, your favorite, people are addicted because of its 'short form', not withstanding its non-biz model other than collecting eyeballs and having someone buy them.
Christopher Coulter
· 1 year ago
The remake of King Kong didn't do very well, 'long format' and all, well plus, it was horrible picture with a terrible script, and in it's case, the 'length' was cited as a seriously negative factor.
Good books, become great with the right amount of editing, not too hot, not too cold.
Windows XP
· 1 year ago
i don't think youtube will have a good chance of having long-form vidoes on there.. myself, i like short-form videos but thats just me :P but for long-form videos, i just go some where else where the servers can handle it and the owner can watch over it
dc crowley
· 1 year ago
When was the last time you read a long article on the web? No way I'll watch long video's... and I consider myself to be 'highly engaged'. Guess youTubes monetization has a long way to go yet
go to die
· 1 year ago
When was the last time you read a long article on the web? No way I’ll watch long video’s..........
instantpaydayloansuk
· 4 months ago
I have tried uploading a 30 minute video to youtube lately and i recieved a message from them saying that i cannot promote a website without proving to them im the owner of the site but i couldnt prove that as i am only the marketing director of the site and have no access details. Youtube is going weird these days.
Debbie
instantpaydayloansuk
· 4 months ago
My comments are not appearing, why would that be?
instantpaydayloansuk
· 4 months ago
did anyone upload a payday loans video up on youtube before?
All Comments
Mark Cuban's point still stands, Youtube can't monetize long-form video it doesn't own the rights to.
Also the art of advertisment (that's a book title right there ;) ) is easier on a long show. Pre-roll on a 20 second video, not so much. Who'd watch that, even if it's rather short?
sent from: fav.or.it [FID188565]
And surely BrightKite wouldn't be advertising on the short-form skateboard video. A skateboard company would be advertising on that video.
To be honest I push any video longer than 5 minutes off of my laptop screen and onto my living room television screen. Long-form video gets interrupted when you are in "laptop, work" mode and you end up not getting engaged.
The web is an opt-in platform - if the user wants to watch and get the value they opt-in and long or short doesn't matter. It's the value of the content.
It isn't that I think long-form isn't a winner, Robert, but I think that the engagement factor is reliant on a lot more than show length.
Thanks.
How is that going to work with today's youth? The average scene of a typical television show is around seven seconds.
Which leads to the conclusion that..... uh, umm. What's trump? Uh, forgot what this post was about.
wait, this post is taking too long...
=)
They are similar to what you put up on FastCompany.tv in that they both use a device with a light sensor in them to record the information. That is where the similarity ends.
You're so vain, you probably think this YouTube feature's about you.. You're so vain ...
One reason is that they have lots of long form media to now add, INVENTORY exists already.
Don't have the numbers? Claim that your audience is somehow superior, better than the common peasantry riff-raff, "more engaged" or "connected", sounds good, but it's just a sleight-of-hand trick to make advertisers THINK they are actually getting something, in spite of the horrible ratings. It's a way to make metrics and demographics irrelevant, so you can cue up all the fluffy 'social media' analysts and consultants, to perform Svengali-like magic out of pure air, you know, like Jeremiah and ilk. Shoot up the town, take off with the money before the Sheriff rides in -- which actually is quite nigh, as Web 2.0 isn't making any coin.
But here's where it breaks down, the MORE "engaged", the less tolerant they are of blubber, so your argument really backfires. The ones that aren't as knowledgeable about such topic are more likely to watch hours and hours of bad interview slop. If you know the game, you can't handle the filler or the fakers, and most of the Web 2.0 stone soup is pure fraud.
All TV shows are the same length, yet some succeed and some don't. When's the last time you heard of a show becoming a hit because of how LONG it was? Long form doesn't always work, (esp. given the short-attention span web audiences) nor does such, in any way guarantee your "connected" audiences.
Content, content, content. Demographics, demographics, demographics. So basic commonsensical as to be redundant even stating it.
1) billions of people are going to watch short vids @ work, before bed, in between reading emails, during commercials. You get WAY more views. So if we can come up with a way to advertise on that we got something. Something more seamless than what they do on broadbandsports.com.
2) I'm interested in Mobile Social Networks, but what do I need a 30 minute podcast for? you tell me bluepulse, i look it up and 5 minutes later I know what I need to know.
I might watch the 30 minute video, but I'll definitely play the 30 min audio podcast for the ride in to the office.
-M
It seems consumers of video don't want to watch ads at all. Why is Tivo and other DVR's so popular? Why is there such a market for downloading shows from iTunes and such? Which makes me wonder why Scoble would want to punish his audience even more by polluting his crappy long videos with ads?
In fact, YouTube has added two types of long form video in the last week.
* "YouTube Screening Room" is going to air longer films that Google is acquiring from professional producers.
* "YouTube Annotations" lets the rest of us post longer format stuff on YouTube. The trick here is that you need to use new YouTube tools to embed links that jump you from chapter to chapter. This approach will attract a very different type of audience than a 30 minute movie you watch front to back.
I go into more detail about this in my post at CamcorderInfo.com (my posts are on the lower right of the home page).
To say that a long form is inherently better than a short form is like saying that a novel is better than a short story.
Measuring creative quality by size completely misses the point. if it were true, then the biggest statues would obviously be more artistic. But that argument is doesn't hold any water.
Good books, become great with the right amount of editing, not too hot, not too cold.
Debbie