I often write about the cluttered online video environment and how hard it is to find specific, authoritative online video content amid that clutter.  Now, there is some clear proof available which paints that cluttered picture of the online video landscape in one place.

Mark Robertson of ReelSEO put together two blog posts that compile lists of video sites like YouTube (there are 300 of them on his list) along with their langauges, URLs, Alexa ranks, and Google page ranks.  He also put together a list of video search sites and video search engines (there are 30 of them on his list) along with URLs, Alexa ranks, and Google page ranks.

So next time you publish an authoritative online video on YouTube or your preferred online video site, remember Mark’s lists.  It’s harder for people to find that video than you might think.

Fortunately, syndicating your online video content through a licensed syndication company like Newstex puts your authoritative content (including video content) in front of professionals who need it but don’t have the time or patience to find it through online video search sites and video search engines. You can learn more about online video syndication in the free ebook — The Truth about Online Video and Licensed Syndication.

Did you know there were so many options for publishing online video and searching online video content?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Last month, YouTube announced it now supports original video resolution from 360p all the way up to 4K.  That means even videos shot in sizes intended to be displayed on 25-foot screens can be uploaded to YouTube.

This was an exciting announcement in terms of what could be coming for online video in the future.  However, many people are wondering how far away that future actually is.  Today, practically no one can view 4k videos over standard broadband connections, and it’s fairly safe to say that the vast majority of people around the world don’t have 25-foot screens to view them on.

This has been a hot topic across the Web over the past few weeks.  Other people have been quick to point out that the ability to upload 4k video isn’t that exciting given the fact that YouTube only just recently (a few weeks after the 4k announcement) boosted the length of videos that can be uploaded to YouTube to 15 minutes.

Regardless of these limitations, it’s still interesting to ponder what might be coming for online video in 5 or 10 years.  I think it’s safe to say that it won’t look the same as it does today.  The demand is too high and new technology to enable better viewing is constantly launching.

It’s doubtful that the first use of the 4k upload ability in YouTube will find favor with the broad YouTube publishing audience, but I’m sure there is a niche out there that will find a use for it.  Or perhaps there is already a specific publisher or organization who has their eyes on the feature and might even get special privileges to increase the 15-minute upload limit.  Of course, I’m just speculating.

What do you think the new 4k feature means for online video publishing and viewing in the short-term? Long-term?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

You can check out some of the videos uploaded in 4k format in this YouTube 4k playlist.

Image: YouTube.com

Great news for online video publishers today — YouTube announced via the YouTube blog that users can now upload videos up to 15 minutes in duration.  That’s a 50% increase over the previous upload limit of 10 minutes.

The company explains that the time limit is extending for uploaded videos because the YouTube Content ID system has evolved to a point where it’s easier and more reliable in identifying videos that have been uploaded but violate copyright laws  (for example, uploaded movies or television shows).

Newstex syndicates video content from many authoritative online publishers who use YouTube to share their video content, and it will be great to see what they do with that extra time!

If you publish video content through YouTube, then you might be interested in the contest YouTube is holding to promote the new time upgrade.  Here are the steps to enter the contest via the YouTube blog:

“We encourage you to take full advantage of this new time limit by making a video of your “15 minutes of fame.” Imagine that this video is all the world will ever know about you: what would you want to communicate? What will be the enduring stamp you’ve left on us all? Tag your video with “yt15minutes,” upload it by Wednesday, August 4, and we’ll select a handful of people to truly gain their 15 minutes of fame by featuring them on the YouTube homepage in a future spotlight.”

What do you think of the upgraded time limit for YouTube videos?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

There are a lot of videos on the Internet, and it’s hard to get your authoritative video content to show up amid the clutter.  Search engines don’t crawl online videos the way video publishers would like them to, and while YouTube dominates the vast majority of online video traffic, there is so much clutter on that site that it’s nearly impossible to be discovered by viewers.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to help your online video search rankings.  Try the tips below to boost direct and indirect traffic to your video content:

1. Don’t rely on one destination.

Make sure your video content can be accessed in different ways and in different places.  For example, don’t just upload your video to YouTube and hope people will find it.  Instead, upload it to multiple video hosting and sharing sites (TubeMogul enables you to upload your video to their site and make it available on multiple video sites at one time), publish it on your website, syndicate your video content, and so on to increase your exposure.  Multiple sources lead to incoming links to your original content which boosts your search engine rankings over time.

2. Use keywords in your title, description and tags.

Keywords are important and your video title, description and tags might be the only content that search engines crawl to index your video content.  Make sure you use them wisely.  Just don’t fill your video with paragraphs of text in the description and tons of keywords and tags.  Google flags those practices as spam techniques.

3. Focus on the long-tail.

Long-tail search engine optimization doesn’t apply to text content only.  You can focus on long-tail SEO in your video content, too.  Long-tail keywords are very specific keyword phrases (often 4 words or more) that attract highly targeted search traffic.

4. Include your URL.

Don’t forget to include your URL in your video description, and try to put it at the beginning of the description, so it doesn’t get cut off on sites that republish the description.

5. Make your video embeddable.

Set your content free by allowing people to embed it in their own blogs, websites, Facebook profiles, and so on.  This is one of the first rules of social media marketing — remove barriers to entry and sharing.  By letting your content flow across the Internet, more people will link to it, find it, share it, and so on creating a domino effect that leads to more traffic and better search engine rankings.

What are your tips for online video SEO?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: stock.xchng

comScore has released its monthly report about online video viewing in the United States, and the results show that online video continues to be extremely popular and growing.

According to comScore, May 2010 online video viewing delivered the following statistics:

• U.S. Internet users viewed nearly 34 billion online videos in May 2010.
• Google sites (including YouTube.com) received by far the most online video views with 14.6 billion videos viewed.  That’s a 43.1% market share!  The next closest site was Hulu.com with 1.2 billion videos viewed or a 3.5% market share.  That’s a huge gap between the market leader and everyone else!
• Nearly 183 million people viewed online videos.
• The average number of videos viewed per person was 186.
• For YouTube alone, 144.1 million viewers watched 14.6 billion videos for an average of 101.2 videos per person.
• The average online video viewed was 4.3 minutes.
• 84.8% of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in May 2010.

Check out the chart below to see the top online video sites in May 2010 according to the comScore report.

Are you using online video to establish your reputation as an authoritative source?  Check out some of the online video publishers who are already syndicating their authoritative content through Newstex, and contact us to learn how you can syndicate your content to boost your exposure and earn some money, too.

Research from One Touch Intelligence that was released this week reveals that 31% of video viewing is now done online among households who had watched full-length online video programs during the month prior to the research being conducted.

To put that 31% in perspective, consider this:

• That 31% of video viewing time is twice as much as the time people spend watching DVDs.
• That 31% of video viewing time is five times as much as the time people spend watching video on demand programming.

Hulu.com is the most popular site for watching long-format online video, and as more and more people use devices to hook up online video content to their television screens, the trend in watching full-length online video programming is like to continue to rise.  According to the One Touch Intelligence research, most people who watch online video on a television do so through an Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii.

It’s important to point out that short-form online video is still the most frequently watched online video content and YouTube dominates where people watch those videos online, but the growing shift to watching long-format video online is important for content marketers, advertisers, and publishers to be aware of.  Online media usage is changing and there’s no going back now!

Image: Flickr

In 2008, 59.7% of the U.S. Internet population watched online video.  Just five years later, in 2014, it is expected that 77.0% of the U.S. Internet population will watch online video.  In other words, 3 out of every 4 people who access the Internet in the U.S. in 2014 will be online video viewers.  That’s a huge opportunity for publishers, marketers, businesses and more! For example, online video advertising is expected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2008 to $5.2 billion in 2014.  Check out the chart below for the details as predicted by eMarketer.

While online video viewing will continue to grow with no signs of stopping in the near future, the types of videos people watch online are also changing as more people are turning to the Internet to watch broadcast television programs and longer-format videos.  You can read more about the types of videos U.S. Internet users view online in For Online Video, Snacking Takes the Cake.

The eMarketer study also revealed that, as you might expect, younger audiences watch more online video than older audiences (excluding children ages 11 and under) with the 18-24 year old demographic being the most avid online video viewers followed closely behind by the 25-43, 12-17, and 35-44 age ranges, respectively.  However, all age ranges show continued growth in the number of people watching online video between now and 2014.

Clearly, online video is not just here to stay but is actually a form of media consumption that more people are shifting time to in lieu of more traditional forms of media.  Online video represents not just an advertising and marketing opportunity but also a publishing opportunity that anyone can leverage in order to build a brand, build authority, build a business, or build an online presence.  Are you using online video yet?

New research from GigaOM Pro reports that most online video viewers participate in “snacking“, which means they watch short user-generated videos on sites like YouTube.  In fact, over 60% of respondents to the survey claimed to regularly watch user-generated videos vs. just 30% who claimed to regularly watch full-length programs.  Check out the chart below for more specific statistics.

Based on these results, user-generated video and shared video content (through social networking sites) are by far the most popular forms of online video, which represents a significant opportunity for authoritative content publishers to carve a niche in the online video community.

Additionally, the study shed some light on the demographics of online video viewers, reporting that approximately two-thirds of the online video viewing population is between the ages of 18-44 with about one-third of online video viewers coming from the 18-32 year old demographic and one-third coming from the 33-44 year old demographic.  In terms of income, the study revealed that online video viewers skew toward higher income brackets.

Considering The Nielsen Company reported that over 141 million people in the U.S. alone watched online video content in February 2010 for a total of 10.3 billion video streams, which is up from 10.5% and 15.8%, respectively, over the prior year, the online video opportunity will continue to grow well into the foreseeable future.  Are you leveraging that opportunity?

Click here to check out some of the authoritative content publishers who are creating online video and syndicating it through Newstex.  If you’d like to syndicate your own video content for increased exposure and to make some money, contact Newstex or click here to learn more.

A new study by Sysomos uncovered an interesting relationship between blog authority and YouTube.  According to the study results, blogs with more authority link more frequently to news and politics videos on YouTube while blogs with less authority link more frequently to music and entertainment videos.  Check out the chart below for details.

Furthermore, North American bloggers are more likely to link to news and politics videos on YouTube than bloggers from other parts of the world.

But that’s not all the study revealed about the relationship between blogs and YouTube.  57% of all YouTube videos in blogs are embedded or linked to by bloggers between the ages of 20-35.

It was also reported that the average video viewed lasts between 4-5 minutes.

There is no doubt that online video is hot in 2010.  For bloggers who want to establish themselves as authoritative sources, video is an excellent option, but why just link to online videos when you can create your own?  Follow the link to see some great examples of the authoritative content being produced by Newstex video publisher partners.

Want to know what the experts predict for online video trends in 2010?  Follow the link to view a slide presentation by Trendspotting (a trend research and consulting firm) or view it below to learn what online video influencers think is coming for online video this year.  It’s a really interesting read!

You can check out a few of the predictions below:

“Advertisers will invest in viral seeding strategies, promote their videos via online influencers, Facebook video-sharing app, and targeted, paid placements.” — Duncan Southgate, Global Innovation Director, Millward Brown

“Small businesses will embrace online video marketing as if it were going out of style.” — Mark Robertson, Founder, Reel SEO

“As more phones become live-video enabled, an increasing number of stories will break from first-hand, at the scene accounts.” — Chris Albrecht, Co-editor, NewTeeVee/GigaOm

“As online video becomes intertwined with with the living-room TV experience, download and streaming services will take on a prominent role in the home entertainment ecosystem.” — Paul Verna, Senior Analyst, eMarketer

“Mass consumption of video will transcend beyond media and entertainment into other markets, such as enterprise, education, healthcare, and government.” — Ron Yekultiel, Chairman and CEO, Kaltura

Is there any doubt that online video will be huge in 2010?