Some potentially big news made its way on to the internet over the weekend- apparently Google is in talks to acquire Twitch TV in a deal that's worth more than $1 billion. The deal could lead to Twitch being merged with YouTube, which could be good news or bad news. …
Read More »Study claims Youtube music videos hurt album sales
Piracy is often cited as the main detractor for album sales around the world, but a new study from the University of Colorado and Fairfield University has found evidence to suggest that even legitimate Youtube videos could cause a drop in album sales. The study is called Online Music, Sales …
Read More »Sony phony DMCA takedown blocks freely available movie
DMCA takedown requests, especially the one for content that doesn't belong to the complainee, have repeatedly been shown to be ridiculous since their implementation. Google has had to deal with tens of millions of the things and even some automated takedown tools demanding their own takedown requests be taken down, …
Read More »Disney to buy PewDiePie network for $500 million
Maker Studios is one of Youtube's biggest networks of collaborators and video makers, featuring names like PewDiePie, Epic Rap Battles of History and Kassem G, but now it could get even larger, as Disney has agreed to purchase it for a whopping $500 (£303) million. That may not be all …
Read More »Google refuses to delist full-movie Youtube link sites
Google has been pretty active in combating piracy on Youtube for some time now and even threw a massive finger to a lot of its hardest working contributors when it introduced the completely uncaring Content ID system which allowed trolls to strip ownership and revenue from videos with a single …
Read More »Youtube is taking steps to curb artificial video views
Youtube has announced that it plans to target those that inflate their video view counts, likes, subscriber numbers or favourites via artificial means, by periodically reviewing all view counts and changing them to their validated amount if they're phony. According to Youtube software engineer Philipp Pfeiffenberger, the act of increasing …
Read More »EA also paid YouTubers to promote its next gen games
In light of Microsoft's recent secretive campaign to get content creators on YouTube to speak positively about the Xbox One, it has been revealed that EA has also done the same to promote its own next gen games. Right now the promotion is aimed at getting producers to be positive …
Read More »Microsoft paid Youtubers to promote Xbox One but say nothing
In a turn of events that isn't exactly shocking considering it's a tactic others have used before, Microsoft purportedly offered to pay Youtubers to talk about the Xbox One. However, what's a little disturbing, is that Microsoft stipulated that if you took part, you'd have to remain completely silent on …
Read More »Dan Bull smashes Youtube content ID system
Dan Bull, Britain's premier nerd rapper, has rolled up his sleeves once again and taken an institution to task. This time it's Youtube and it's new content ID system, that has so far claimed the videos, revenue and in-some cases livelihood of some of the site's most premier content creators. …
Read More »Let’s play friendly developer list published
In the wake of the news that Youtube had begun stripping ownership of many Let's Play videos away from video content producers, some developers and publishers have sided with the Youtubers and have been making a real effort to have those videos returned to their original owners. Not all though, …
Read More »YouTube channels flooded with copyright claims
YouTube is at it again, the new comment system is still a mess and now gaming channels are being flooded with unfounded copyright claims. This is all down to a new content ID system that is being implemented, starting this week, every uploaded video will go through a series of …
Read More »Real life street fighter with The Bullying Experiment on YouTube
We're not in the habit of linking up any old YouTube videos, but something will land on YouTube inside the next 24 hours that is likely to be a phenomenon and we wondered where you stand on the issue of bullying? KitGuru links up the tricky situations. UPDATE: The promo …
Read More »Multiplay documentary launched to celebrate i50
As the i-Series of gaming LANs passes into its 17th year, the organisation behind it has released an epic documentary that charts its history – from humble beginnings to i50 glory. KitGuru pulls up a comfy chair, pops the corn and forces YouTube to 720p goodness. When medical student Craig …
Read More »Youtube acknowledges G+ integration didn’t fix comments
We talked about some of the problems hitting the Youtube comment system since Google forced its G+ integration on the user base, with Bob and his tank taking over most videos comment sections. However things have gotten worse since then, with swathes of ASCII art pornography being copy pasted across …
Read More »If you thought Youtube comments were annoying before…
Youtube comments have historically been a place of rampant homophobia, spam links and the occasional witty one liner, but in the past few days they've changed drastically. Thanks to Google finally completing its transition to link Youtube comments with Google+, the user base has rioted. Google had pledged to twin …
Read More »Netflix and Youtube use up 50 per cent of the internet
Watching streaming video is obviously a popular activity these days, but did anyone think that it was as prolific as this? In a new study by Canadian internet monitoring firm, Sandvine, it's attributed as much as 50 per cent of all internet traffic to just two streaming services: Netflix and …
Read More »Youtube could be working subscription music service
If you thought the music service marketplace was crowded enough with Spotify, Itunes, BBC iplayer and all the other on-demand listening services, it might be set to get even more so, as some reports are suggesting Youtube could soon be launching its own version. Regardless of market saturation however, Youtube …
Read More »BBC Playlister announced
The BBC is launching its new ‘Playlister' service today, which partners with Youtube, Spotify and Deezer allowing you to save songs you hear on the radio to a playlist to listen back to later on one of the partnering services. Last year we suspected the BBC was going to enter …
Read More »Youtube comment system to be overhauled
If you've ever glanced down from a Youtube video at the threads of conversation below, you'll know that it's not exactly the most englightened or informed place. There's no decent system of sorting the good comments from the bad, lots of upvoted “upvote this please,” comments and more often than …
Read More »Microsoft claims Google obtuse over Windows phone Youtube app
Microsoft has accused Google of deliberately sabotaging its ability to have a working Youtube application on the Windows phone platform, by “manufacturing” reasons why it could revoke the Windows maker's license to use the Youtube API. In a blog post titled, “The limits of Google's openness,” Microsoft corporate VP and …
Read More »Here’s that Knightmare remake episode
Look out Knightmare Castle, there's skinny jeans and emo hair-dos imbound, or at least there was yesterday, as several Youtube “sensations” braved the long empty CGI castle in a remake of the classic show Knightmare, featuring the ever awesome Hugo Myatt as Treguard and Isy Suttie (Dobby from Peep Show) …
Read More »Knightmare is returning to Youtube
Unfortunately Knightmare fans, it's only for one show, in a one off special as part of the Geek Week festival on Youtube between the 4th and 10th of August. It'll be part of Global Geekery Monday, and featuring the original presenter himself, Hugo Myatt. Series creator Tim Child will be …
Read More »Youtube responds to Nintendo ad hijack complaints
Last week we reported on how Nintendo has been taking over the advertising of those making Let's Plays featuring games from the the Japanese firm, leading to all revenue from said videos heading eastward. Understandably many of the channel owners complained and Youtube has now got back to them. The …
Read More »Nintendo is claiming ad money from Youtube user content
A Youtube user by the name of Zack Scott, who runs Let's Play videos on the site, has been targeted by Nintendo for using its games in his videos and the video game giant is now claiming advertising revenue from him, despite the fact that his commentary of the games is covered …
Read More »Torch browser adds music functionality
Once upon a time the default web browser for everyone was Internet Explorer. Those days are long gone though, but so are the ones that saw everyone that considered themselves a bit of a tech head using Firefox. Now people seem to be split quite evenly with the latest IE …
Read More »Rumour: Youtube may start charging for some videos
According to some hints floating around several different sites this morning, Youtube could be set to begin charging for certain channel subscriptions, marking the first time that its content has been restricted to a specific user base. According to the Mashable report and its sources, this payment model could be …
Read More »German music rights law blocks many Youtube videos
We've talked about the trouble with German music law in the past. It's the reason that Spotify took so long to launch in the country and why other music services have such a hard time. The biggest performance rights group in the country, GEMA, is tyrannical in its protectionism of artists and …
Read More »Youtube is coming to Freesat
Freesat users, get ready for a lot more cat videos as Youtube is coming to your service soon. Marking the first time that a dedicated channel for Youtube has been made available on a free to view platform in the UK. This announcement was made as part of a celebration …
Read More »Youtube banned in Egypt
Youtube has been banned in Egypt for one month, as a protest for its streaming of what the ruling body describes as, “anti-muslim” film, “Innocence of Muslims.” This 14 minute trailer for a movie that has never seen the light of day, has drawn ire from much of the middle …
Read More »Dotcom claims German performing rights group pulled Mega launch video
Kim Dotcom has hit out against GEMA, a German performing rights group, for apparently having his video of the Mega.co.nz launch ceremony pulled from Youtube on copyright grounds. The video has now been reinstated, but that hasn't stopped him tweeting about it. Incredible: The GEMA in Germany took down our …
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