There is a lot of hype on Youtube Live, the new live streaming service offered to Youtube Partners. How does it change the game and why should you bother?
Youtube recently launched live streaming in a super closed and later slightly more accessible beta.
Lots of event planners are ecstatic about the opportunities Youtube Live offers.
However, as of all things Google, the service is overwhelmed with secrecy. Despite my attempts to get in touch with their PR, we still know very little of the impact has on quality, compatibility and SEO.
Nonetheless your war correspondent from the trenches, i.e. me, has some juicy news and wanted to share them with the world.
Some Background
In my previous post I hypothesized some of the benefits we could anticipate from using Youtube as a streaming platform for events. After some research in Google’s dedicated Group and on the Interwebs, I was able to find:
– Facebook Embed
– iPhone Compatibility
– Live Comments
– HD Quality
Still very little in terms of SEO juice and the impact on search.
Now the Juicy Bits
I thought to ask a simple question to those using the service in the forum:
[…] I am working on a post outlining some cool features of Youtube Live but have no access, can you tell us more? What did you particularly like in comparison to other Live streaming services?
I got a very interesting answer by one of the users:
@tojulius Basically, the Best Part of YouTube live is that we KNOW when the kinks get worked out we will have 100,000’s of Trouble Free Live Viewers.
In spite of early YouTube LIVE Streaming glitches that ALL new internet services have, I can still attract 30,000 plus Live Viewers from my Subscriber base of almost 400,000 Subscribers.
My JeepersMedia Live Streaming Show on another site BlogTV.com is the third most watched on that Entire System in History, but I only attract 1,000-2,000 to view at any given time.
My Fans LOVE YouTube and want to view content HERE!
As far as YouTube Broadcaster Features, they are literally changing day to day! New Live Viewer Graphs, New Blocking feature for malcontent chatters! Each day brings a step in the positive direction. You need to ask that question in three months and you will be pleasantly surprised!
Some Thoughts
By the above reply it appears quite obvious how the immediate benefit from using Youtube as a streaming service is that users are accustomed to using Youtube.
This means that the fruition of live events is seamless and the experience consistent, thanks to the massive user base Youtube counts on.
What’s next then? Well, Youtube, open it up! We can’t wait to start playing with it.
