While you watch YouTube, it’s watching you right back
YouTube has been the place where everyone goes to see and be seen for a couple of years now. But starting this week, the popular video-sharing site will announce who’s watching, where they’re watching and how often.
A feature called YouTube Insight, available on the site’s video-creator account page and formally announced late Wednesday, provides detailed information for a video’s popularity according to the number of views and the U.S. regions or states where most of those views take place.
So now, anyone who posts a clip can better monitor whether their message is being heard and determine what kind of audience is watching. The details offered through Insight, however, are available only to the person who uploaded the video.
Before, all YouTube would divulge is how many times a video was viewed and list reader comments.
The addition of Insight may not ring bells for the average YouTube user, or someone who just posts videos for fun, but it is seen as a boon for advertisers and marketers needing to know if their messages are getting across to intended audiences.
“With this information, you can concentrate on creating compelling new content that appeals to your target audiences and post those videos on days you know these viewers are on the site,” YouTube said on its own blog.
As examples, a rock band could determine in which towns and areas their music is well-received when planning a tour, or makers of instructional videos could learn their work is attractive to foreign audiences and plan for other content in different languages.
“Advertisers can study their metrics and successes to tailor their marketing — both on and off the site — and reach the right viewers,” explained YouTube product manager Tracy Chan, in a post on her blog. “As a result, Insight turns YouTube into one of the world’s largest focus groups.”
Others expected to gain mightily from Insight are politicians, TV executives who are trying out new programming, real estate agents and employment agencies.
The effect of all this is likely to turn YouTube from being a house of randomly-distributed content into a highly refined message board that competes with newspapers and television for advertising revenue. And if that happens, then YouTube owner Google may finally get payback for its $1.76 billion purchase of the site in 2006.
The rest of us may find that our fun videos and homey little clips don’t cut it on YouTube any more — not if too many marketers and advertisers get in the way.
