I’ve long warned entrepreneurs about the dangers of relying on video sharing sites for their marketing efforts. Very few…if any…video sharing sites have managed to turn a profit to date. And with more money going out than coming in, it’s just a matter of math (and time) before changes occur. Changes that can make your videos disappear…literally…overnight.
I’ve experienced this first hand.
Last December, the free service I was using to host my video podcast sent out an email saying they were closing their doors in 5 days. That meant me (and many other people) had just 5 days to move our video podcasts elsewhere or have the lights go out on our audience. There was no prior warning. None. Just an unexpected email saying “we’re out of money and you have 5 days”.
Around the same time, two giants in the video sharing site world, Google Video and AOL Video announced that they would stop accepting new video uploads (AOL has already done this, Google Video will stop accepting uploads in a few months).
And now just yesterday, another big player in the video sharing world, Veoh, announced major shake-ups within their company. They are replacing their CEO and reducing their staff by 36%.
Now, Veoh did put a positive spin on this shake-up saying among other things “every single quarter is a record quarter” and “we are just tightening our belts”. But still, a 36% reduction in staff is a bit ominous…no matter how you spin it.
Expect more announcements like this…from more popular video sharing sites…over the coming year. How exactly end-user’s like you or me will be effected I can’t say. But one thing is clear; there will be change. Let’s just hope millions of user’s don’t get an unexpected “5 day” message like I did.
Ha! I’m not scared at all since I have all my videos up on the Club WVU servers! And, no, Dave didn’t pay me to say this. 😉
Dave, do you think there is any advantage to posting videos at GoogleVideo while the opportunity still exists?
Barbra,
It depends if you’re getting measurable results from Google Video…as in you are getting traffic to your site that results in sales or subscribers.
Google has said they will NOT be removing any existing videos, they will just be stopping new uploads.
So if you can track specific sales or subscribers coming from Google Video, then yes I’d continue uploading until they pull the plug.
Hi Dave,
This is really interesting news!
I wonder what this means in terms of video marketing? One technique has been to share videos on multiple sites to get more views.
What is your take on this?
Hey Shama,
I recommend doing video podcasts…and paying to host your own videos.
With a video podcast:
1. Your videos appear on your own web site (where you can monetize the traffic)
2. Your videos are also distributed across podcast directories (which often rank much better in the search engines)
3. You videos are also distributed through iTunes, Zune, Miro, etc.
4. If you want, you can also take the very same videos and publish them on sharing sites too.
The catch is that video podcasts require a little more work and since you’re paying to host your own videos, doing it isn’t free.
But for those who are serious and passionate about their business, it’s a much wiser (and lucrative) model to follow…rather than relying exclusively on free sharing sites that may or may not be here tomorrow.