YouTube is gradually replacing Google Video—that is where most people upload videos anyway—but getting as much video from the rest of the Web onto its servers allows it to do many more things with it than if it simply indexed the videos elsewhere. It can search them better and throw up ads against them.
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Specifically, the new APIs allow Web developers to:
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* Upload videos and video responses to YouTube
$ j% c! {8 A- K+ W9 ]& M( W. A) R* Add/Edit user and video metadata (titles, descriptions, ratings, comments, favorites, contacts, etc)
R m7 Z, e, W$ Z* s. V7 ~0 o* Fetch localized standard feeds (most viewed, top rated, etc.) for 18 international locales
3 C: b) H2 `6 E5 d+ v: L* Perform custom queries optimized for 18 international locales
- C1 x! X M% M' K, v _* Customize player UI and control video playback (pause, play, stop, etc.) through software8 D) g0 d. C# x4 S7 D
* I, w e; @* LYouTube is not just white-labeling its video-hosting infrastructure for other sites, devices, and desktop applications. It is offering video-hosting for free. This could prove highly disruptive to other video-hosting platforms such as Brightcove, Maven Networks (now part of YouTube), and Move Networks. Partners already using the APIs include Animoto, Casio, Electronic Arts, Helio, KickApps, Slide, and TiVo. Yes, you can now watch YouTube on TiVo.
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3 ]" R# V0 J3 V% JOf course, it is not exactly free. The videos will also be available on YouTube, where Google will make money from any associated ads. It is not clear how the ad revenue will be split, or even if it will be. There is nothing in the API that allows for a Website to insert their own ads. So that is a big question mark. (More on that after I speak with a YouTube exec later in today).
