Dear Reader: We've launched an entire new site tracking the video-sharing industry. Contentinople's Video Sharing Guide contains hundreds of entries and allows you to rate your favorite video sites!
Among other things, 2006 will be remembered as the year online video really became something you share, not just something you log onto and watch.
But the sheer volume of video sharing sites that have come online in the past 18 months suggests that the online video trend won't be confined to something people do to entertain themselves on a coffee break. To wit, hundreds of thousands of consumers are beginning to share video online, and that's having a profound impact on how much bandwidth is consumed and how broadband providers make money.
"HDTV, next-generation gaming, personal video, and digital photography will all contribute to the emergence of a new broadband gold standard of 100 Mbit/s symmetric over the next 12 to 24 months," writes Heavy Reading senior analyst Graham Finnie in his latest report on the fiber-to-the-home market. (See FTTH Hits Mainstream.)
Video sharing: the viral spiral
Bandwidth consumption isn't the only byproduct of the increase in video sharing. Content distribution networks are beefing up, and the companies in that space are thriving as Web-based services make it easy to exchange larger and larger files. (See CacheLogic Builds P2P Content Network and Video Caching Steps Into the Limelight.) Also, service providers like AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) are pairing up with Internet TV companies like Akimbo Systems to make sure they can deliver, not just regular TV channels, but some consumer-generated content as well. (See AT&T, Cisco Elbow Into Akimbo and Will Telcos Want Their Dave.tv?)
Content makers and advertisers are seeking out online video sites as a way to reach younger demographics. (See Google Pushes MTV Video.) Even Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) says it won't be left out. "MSN is currently developing a user-generated/user-submitted video solution that will launch this year," a spokeswoman for Microsoft says. "The solution will integrate with Windows Live Spaces and across MSN.com. Stay tuned!"
The Top Ten
With all that going on, it's definitely worth looking at who stands out in this ridiculously crowded space. Since popular opinion does matter online – where the consumer experience is hugely important – we thought it'd be useful to rank some of the Internet's most popular video sharing sites by how they performed from the point of view of someone wanting to post videos rather than just look at someone else's.
Without further ado, here's our list of the Top Ten Video Sharing Sites
VideoEgg makes it so easy to push videos to other sites, and the videos look great when they arrive. By far, this was one of the most responsive services we tested.
YouTube is definitely the gold standard of video sharing sites. And, even though the site clutter is excessive and a few features need tweaking, there's definitely a reason why they're the one to beat.
Is this the P2P dream come true? Veoh's created a very solid, reliable video sharing experience sweetened by the lack of upload size restrictions. Bravo, Veoh!
The VideoEgg technology makes uploading, trimming, and viewing easy. Distribution options are limited, and one set of embeddable links provided were full of HTML errors.
Motionbox offers an exceptional feature that allows you to highlight specific bits of videos and share just the good stuff. Blog support and other distribution options are coming along. This site will definitely climb in the ranks as it matures.
This ad-free, clutter-free site was conceived around sharing, archiving, and uploading photos, so the support of video is sort of a bonus for existing members. Not really a place to start if you're serious about video.
We had a tough time uploading and converting a Windows Media file. Otherwise, the site's clunky design might be worth tolerating so long as it continues to offer more storage space than most sharing sites.
We could complain about the user interface and the lack of features, but why bother? The annoying Circuit City popup ads on every page will keep users away in droves.
We couldn't get Streamload to upload! We've heard raves about the sharing service and registering was dead easy, but uploading wasn't possible – even after rebooting, turning off the firewall, and changing to a different Internet connection. Maybe you'll have better luck.
Hard to see why the world needs YouTube and Metacafe. During a test upload the site couldn't recognize the same Windows Media file that 40-something other sites had no trouble accepting.
This is a popular site, but we didn't rank because our ability to read French might've caused them undeserved ratings damage.
Sources: Light Reading and company data
The burning questions Now that you know who the winners and losers are, let's get into how we arrived at our scores. It all started with the following blogs, which helped generate the list of 45 video sharing Websites that we went on to evaluate, and helped identify the issues that differentiate them:
Each site was visited, used, and scored in three main areas that we felt would make the most difference to the largest number of people wanting to post videos for sharing with others:
Ease of use. Maximum possible score: 30
File size, storage limitations. Maximum possible score: 30
"Other stuff" including format flexibility, editing capabilities, distribution networks, and privacy options. Maximum score 40.
The scoring system aims to reflect the likely viewpoint of consumers who are relatively new to video sharing – folks more inclined to start out by just sharing video with family and friends. We also gave lots of consideration to content creators who are using the Internet as a cheap distribution platform. Hence the scoring that goes beyond ease of use to also look at costs, site performance, file size limitations, and distribution options.
The people whose needs we really didn't consider are the compulsive viral video posters looking for an "Internet hit." Chances are that group has found a handful of favorite sites already.
For the reasons behind some of the scores, check out Table 2:
Table 2: Video Sharing Websites: Burning Questions
The free version is limited to 500 photos and 10 videos. Photos can be any file size and any dimension. Videos can be any file size and up to 2 minutes in length.
None. From the company's user guidelines: "You can upload as many videos to Google Video as you like, without any size or length limitations." WOW! Note: Files over 100 Mbytes require a software app to upload.
The site's free accounts provide 25 Gbytes of free storage for any kind of media files. Free users are also limited to 1 Gbyte of access bandwidth per month.
Yes. Same as with AOL – if a video is too long, you can use a preview player to trim its length and erase sections you don't want.
Videos must be kept to less than 5 minutes long. From the site: "While there's no technical limit to the length of video the Publisher can post, long videos are expensive to store and stream."
Free (for now)
Yes
Yes. The VideoEgg publisher is required, but it's just a tiny Web browser plug-in and installs in a minute.
None. From the site's FAQ: "Most videos on YouTube are under five minutes long. There is no specific length limit, but longer videos require more compression to fit in the 100MB size limit, and the quality will go down as the length of the video goes up."
Under 10 Mbytes without registration. Up to 20 Mbytes with user registration.
Free
Yes
No
Sources: Light Reading and company data
This drills down on the following issues:
Video editing capabilities
File size limit
How much it costs
Whether videos can be kept private
Whether a software download is necessary
The fine print
One final thing we didn't grade, but users should watch out for, are the terms of use. Most free video sharing services, with few exceptions, grant themselves a license to monetize and advertise your uploaded content any way they can. And very few, if any, of the bucks those sites may make off of your stuff will ever reach your bank account.
Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), for instance, grants itself the right to use your videos "for advertising, promotional or commercial purposes, including without limitation, the right to publicly display, perform, reproduce and distribute Your Video Content in any media format or medium and through any media channels."
And Yahoo's terms are pretty typical. Another way to think of it: If you upload a certifiable mainstream hit, they'll make bank on the motion picture rights and DVD sales – not you. So there. You've been warned. Be careful.
Copping some traffic
So now we've covered our methodology, here are some final bits of information we picked up along the way that, while not critical to our rankings, do shed some light on the overall growth of the online video sharing market.
One item of interest: Not all the sites that stand out, performed well, and flourished in the rankings have managed to attract a massive online audience. Interestingly, only a few in our Top Ten List have what could be considered remarkable traffic numbers, but that's likely to change, considering how relatively new some of these video sharing services are:
Table 3: By the Numbers: Light Reading's Top 10 Video Sharing Sites
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings – U.S. Home and Work Audience, July 2006
* Note: Because the audience measured for these Websites is smaller than the standard sample size, the projected audience figures for these sites may vary greatly from month to month.
** These Websites have insufficient sample sizes for reliable projection of audience size.
Finally, while we're focusing here on video sharing services, we thought it might also be interesting to see what online video sites are most popular in the U.S. and abroad. Relatively few sites have managed to pull off becoming both an entertainment destination and a user-friendly hub for video distribution:
Table 4: Top US Online Video Sites, Week Ending August 5, 2006
U.S. Rank
Name
Domain
Market Share of Visits
1
YouTube
www.youtube.com
47.70%
2
MySpace Videos
vids.myspace.com
24.81%
3
Yahoo! Video Search
video.search.yahoo.com
6.85%
4
MSN Video Search
video.msn.com
6.14%
5
Google Video
video.google.com
4.52%
6
AOL Media
us.video.aol.com
4.37%
7
iFilm
www.ifilm.com
1.74%
8
MetaCafe
www.metacafe.com
1.53%
9
vMix
www.vmix.com
0.45%
10
Daily Motion
www.dailymotion.com
0.37%
Source: Hitwise
Data based on Market Share of Visits, which is the percentage of all traffic to a particular Website.
Table 5: Top UK Online Video Sites, Week Ending August 5, 2006
UK Rank
Name
Domain
Market Share of Visits
1
YouTube
www.youtube.com
65.04%
2
Google Video
video.google.com
7.73%
3
MySpace Videos
vids.myspace.com
7.40%
4
Google Video UK
video.google.co.uk
6.18%
5
MetaCafe
www.metacafe.com
3.26%
6
Yahoo! Video Search
video.search.yahoo.com
2.36%
7
AddictingClips
www.addictingclips.com
2.14%
8
AOL Media
us.video.aol.com
1.85%
9
Break.com
www.break.com
1.40%
10
Singingfish
www.singingfish.com
1.35%
Source: Hitwise
Data based on Market Share of Visits, which is the percentage of all traffic to a particular Website.
A recent addition that you failed to include in your review was www.bannedfromyoutube.com, featuring rare, hard-to-find and banned videos that are not seen anywhere else.
All of these online video websites continue to have growth and are growing their user base. I wonder how the news about Youtube costing Google will influence the direction they take
If you like video sharing here is a good site to watch free online tv. It's easy to use with lots of channels (over 1000) and you don't have to download anything. http://www.tvweb360.com
I would like to add www.jujunation.com. Most African sites never seem to make most list. This is a great site for African music videos and video sharing. It is also a social network site. Check it out to watch great African music videos and other stuff.
there has been a new addition in the crowded worlsd of video sharing www.vdopia.com, and it has done exactly the opposite of what everyone is doing.
a) there is no video search b) you cant view video publically c) you will have to register and create your own video network
hmmm sounds interesting and a dangerous ploy in the over crowded video sharing market space. But it has cught the imagination of users who are tired of watching amateur videos and small clips (it offers twice as much uploading space as compared to you tube and puts no restriction on number of uploads).
so whats unique: a) ability to share personal videos b) ability to import your all social network friends at one place c) ability to create your own personal video library d) the entire feel of the site
they have also integrated with other social network sites
They have just launched Facebook Vdopia app. Vdopia - your vdopia paradise, is for sharing your personal videos. Sharing at Vdopia is private and is as secure as an email. You can also bookmark your favorite videos from youtube, dailymotion, google videos etc. to keep all the videos you like at one place. Your friends can view your favorite videos and find videos bookmarked by you. Last but not the least you can chat with your friends and discuss while watching your favorite videos. Check out http://apps.facebook.com/ourvdopia/ If there are any features that you would like to be added to vdopia write to us at http://apps.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2384018198
The blogs and comments are the opinions only of the writers and do not reflect the views of Light Reading. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
To save this item to your list of favorite Light Reading content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Single Backbone Solution - by Huawei 8/30/2010
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit