In case you haven’t noticed, this past week YouTube began muting audio in videos suspected of violating copyright laws. This doesn’t just include only people posting rips of DVDs or tracks from their Mp3 Collection, it also includes Spoofs, Documentaries, and anything else that includes content or music that is in violation of copyright laws. YouTube is beginning a huge transformation from a popular site, into a site that a lot of people used to like .
Should YouTube take these results out of the search listings? Should users be required to filter through tons of results that have no audio? Now the whole site feels like a trick. You are excited to find the video you want to see, you click it, then they smack you in face. It’s only a matter of time before people begin finding their old favorite (now muted) videos on other services (about to get sued out of existence) and reduce the amount of time they spend on YouTube by 20-40%. People can embed videos from other services into their FaceBook just as easily as they do from YouTube.
YouTube hasn’t focused on tools or functionality to increase loyalty for the common user. Mix in the current advertising slump for large network sites and you get a clear picture of the Horror YouTube’s managers must be experiencing.
Is Google missing the mark on Social Networking when it comes to YouTube? Are they even throwing darts? YouTube better pray there isn’t any type of social revolt against Google.
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The blog of a nomadic internet marketer, web host owner, dating site owner and web developer.
Youtube redesign blows!