Tag Archives: YouTube

This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2015

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YouTube reminds you to Rewind and take a look back at the most viral memes and trends of 2015. The clip embedded above is the video streaming site’s annual YouTube Rewind celebration that remixes some of the most popular songs of the year and superimposes YouTube stars in front of scenic landscapes and shiny arenas. Though you may not recognize all of the youthful faces here, it’s definitely a fun recap of what we embraced on the Internet this year.

And now, check out the top 10 most popular YouTube clips of the year, based on “the amount of time people spent watching, sharing, commenting, liking, and more,” according to YT. Music videos, Super Bowl commercials, pranks, and late-night TV clips proved to be mainstream fare. The following clips were watched for over 25 million hours!

  1. Silento- Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) #WatchMeDanceOn by Tianne King
  2. Clash of Clans: Revenge (Official Super Bowl TV Commercial) by Clash of Clans
  3. Crazy Plastic Ball PRANK!! by RomanAtwood
  4. Love Has No Labels | Diversity & Inclusion | Ad Council by Ad Council
  5. Lip Sync Battle with Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart and Jimmy Fallon by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
  6. Justin Bieber Carpool Karaoke by The Late Late Show with James Corden
  7. 6ft Man in 6ft Giant Water Balloon – 4K – The Slow Mo Guys by The Slow Mo Guys
  8. Golden boy Calum Scott hits the right note | Audition Week 1 | Britain’s Got Talent 2015 by Britain’s Got Talent
  9. Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off) by Dover Police
  10. Mean Tweets – President Obama Edition by Jimmy Kimmel Live

Curious about the most-watched music videos of 2015 that people spent over 37,000 years playing in this year alone? Pop after the break to eye the list. Continue reading This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2015 →

YouTube Red brings ad-free streaming experience to the masses

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Can you remember back to the days when YouTube wasn’t muddled with pre-roll advertisements? Yeah, I know, it’s straining. Well, Google is looking to finally alleviate the pain that comes packaged with having to sit through tediously boring commercials. The new initiative is called YouTube Red, and yes, like all magic it comes with a price. For $9.99/month you can stream YouTube videos completely ad-free. Oh, and thankfully there’s more to it. With a YouTube Red membership, you can also save videos for offline playback and background playback is enabled (the latter meaning playback continues even if you’re bouncing around other apps or if you’re mobile device falls asleep). Another perk? A Google Play Music subscription is part of it, too. Of course, Red benefits do not apply to those YouTube videos that require you to pay to view such as film rentals and the like. The rest, praise be, indeed go ad-free.

In time, YouTube Red will also offer exclusive content such as YouTube Music (a new way to curate and listen to music coming next year) and YouTube Red Original Series produced by some of the sites biggest stars like PewDiePie and Joey Graceffa. Preview ten of the new series coming in 2016 over here.

As of October 28, YouTube Red has gone live and you can live the ad-free experience by signing up today. YouTube’s offering a free one-month trial for you to find out if the $10 barrier to entry is worth it to you. If you happen to be a proud owner of a YouTube channel, do note that if you are ever looking to support your videos with ads, you will be forced to pay up for a Red membership. With that slightly sour but understandable point out of the way, go give YouTube Red a test drive and see if the reality lives up to the hype of living in an ad-free YouTube world.

[Via YouTube 1, 2]

YouTube turns 10 and outs a jam-packed retrospective video

Entertainment, Video,

Believe it or not, YouTube is celebrating its 10th birthday and what better way to do just that than with a YouTube video that quite successfully captures the broad range of viral goodness to come from it. Backed by Blackalicious’ famous rap “Alphabet Aerobics,”  the video “The A-Z of YouTube” crams over 75 references and 18 filmmaking styles to show off the sheer amount of creativity and variety its content creators have contributed from the past decade. A personal favorite of mine makes the cut; do yours?

This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2014

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YouTube celebrates the moments, memes, and people that made 2014 with its “YouTube Rewind” mashup extravaganza. The video features a number of YouTube content creators singing, dancing, and acting out many of the year’s most popular viral memories. Speaking of viral videos, the good folks at YT have provided a top 10 list of the most popular clips uploaded to the video streaming site “based on views, shares, comments, likes and more.” And they are:

1. Mutant Giant Spider Dog (SA Wardega) by SA Wardega
2. Nike Football: Winner Stays. ft. Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., Rooney, Ibrahimović, Iniesta & more by Nike Football
3. FIRST KISS by Tatia PIlieva
4. The Voice IT | Serie 2 | Blind 2 | Suor Cristina Scuccia – #TEAMJ-AX by TheVoiceOf Italy
5. iPhone 6 Plus Bend Test by Unbox Therapy
6. Bars & Melody – Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer act | Britain’s Got Talent 2014 by Britain’s Got Talent
7. Budweiser Super Bowl XLVIII Commercial — “Puppy Love” by Budweiser
8. Devil Baby Attack by DevilsDueNYC
9. Goku vs Superman. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 3. by ERB
10. 10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman by Street HarassmentVideo

This year YouTube also went out of its way to provide a top 10 list of the most-watched music videos. Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” tops the list that’s pasted after the break. Continue reading This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2014 →

This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2013

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It’s been another wild year for things that went viral on the Internet. YouTube‘s compiled a list of the top 10 most trending videos of 2013 and can you guess which video claimed the #1 spot? I’ll give you a hit: Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! That’s right–it’s Ylvis’ “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” which has amassed over 306 million views as of writing this post. The Harlem Shake, Steve Kardynal’s hysterical Chatroulette version of “Wrecking Ball,” The Lonely Island’s “YOLO,” and that Carrie movie telekinesis marketing ploy also made the most watched list:

1. Ylvis – “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” by tvnorge
2. “Harlem Shake (original army edition)” by kennethaakonsen
3. “How Animals Eat Their Food” | MisterEpicMann by MisterEpicMann
4. “Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version)” by SteveKardynal
5. “baby&me / the new evian film” by EvianBabies
6. Volvo Trucks – “The Epic Split feat. Van Damme” by VolvoTrucks
7. “YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)” by thelonelyisland
8. “Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise” by CarrieNYC
9. “THE NFL : A Bad Lip Reading” by BadLipReading
10. “Mozart vs Skrillex. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2” by ERB

The video hanging above mashes together the year’s most popular viral hits; “YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say?” stars YouTube personalities like Mystery Guitar Man, GloZell, DeStorm, Jenna Marbles, Epic Meal Time, Annoying Orange, iJustine, Grace Helbig, and FreddieW. Rock out with your tail out!

This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2012

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From cover songs to parodies to Korean pop music, we were all captivated by what came out of the Internet this year. People watched over 4 billion hours of video a month on YouTube, so I think it’s safe to say that Google’s video portal is the leader of viral videos. Being the hardcore number crunchers they are, the G-Men have compiled a list of the top ten most watched YouTube videos of 2012 and they are:

  1. PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V 
  2. Somebody That I Used to Know – Walk off the Earth (Gotye – Cover) 
  3. KONY 2012 
  4. “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen – Feat. Justin Bieber, Selena, Ashley Tisdale & MORE! 
  5. Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney. Epic Rap Battles Of History Season 2. 
  6. A DRAMATIC SURPRISE ON A QUIET SQUARE 
  7. WHY YOU ASKING ALL THEM QUESTIONS? .. #FCHW 
  8. Dubstep Violin- Lindsey Stirling- Crystallize 
  9. Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen.
  10. Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic freefall from 128k’ – Mission Highlights

You guessed it–“Gangnam Style” is the most watched video of the year. It shouldn’t come as a surprise since it overtook Justin Bieber’s “Baby” music video in November to become the most watched video of all time. It’s on its way to be the first video to reach one billion hits; as of writing this post it sits high comfortably at 994 million views.

The site recently roped in a bunch of YouTubers to star in a video that mashes up the culturally defining moments that came out of the most watched videos of the year. PSY is prominently featured along with DailyGrace, MysteryGuitarMan, DeStorm, FreddieW, Felicia Day, iJustine, JennaMarbles, EpicMealTime, and many others. It’s embedded above, so enjoy!

“Gangnam Style” reaches one billion views on YouTube

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Is it a sign of the end of times? Maybe, maybe not. This just in: K-Pop star PSY’s “Gangnam Style” music video has generated one billion views on YouTube. That’s an incredible feat, no matter how you look at it. According to Google the clip’s been seen at least one million times in close to 75 countries, so to say it’s a worldwide sensation is quite the understatement. Recently it surpassed Justin Bieber’s “Baby” music video to become the most watched video of all time on Google’s video site, and it is here where it will likely remain king for some time.

YouTube Capture app makes it simple to record and share video anytime, anywhere

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Google has whipped up an app called YouTube Capture that makes it super simple to record and share video from your mobile device. After downloading, installing, and briefing setting up the app, you are given the tools to quickly upload video to YouTube. After you shoot a scene, you can edit it before sending it off to the Internet. After giving your video a title, tapping the wand icon allows you to flip on or off color correction and stabilization; you can also trim the video and add background music provided by free YouTube Soundtracks. Tap the YouTube icon and you can control who sees your video online; the public setting allows anyone to search for and view your video, the unlisted setting allows only people with a link to your video to view it, and the private setting makes it so that only you can view it. The app also makes it easy to share your video with friends via Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. If you want to share video with your Twitter followers, for example, tap the Twitter icon, allow the app to access your Twitter login credentials, and poof your video is tweeted into the twittersphere.

It’s all rather rudamentary, but that is Google’s point with this app. Want to upload a video to the Internet and share it with your social circles? YouTube Capture will get the job done quick and easy. Download it today in the App Store. Coming soon to Android. Video demonstration after the break.

[Via YouTube Blog] Continue reading YouTube Capture app makes it simple to record and share video anytime, anywhere →

“Gangnam Style” becomes most-viewed video of all time on YouTube

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On November 24, “Gangnam Style” became the most-viewed video on YouTube. On that day its view count reached 805 million. Today its nearly captured 855 million looks. The South Korean rapper PSY managed to dethrone “pop sensation” Justin Bieber’s “Baby” music video, the previous record holder for most-viewed video. And as catchy, fun, agonizing or annoying you find “Gangnam Style” to be, PSY deserves at least some respect for knocking the Biebs down a peg, am I right? According to YouTube Trends, however, Justin’s 2010 single still receives between 350k and 500k views per day. But that pales in comparison to the new record holder; the song that’ll get you singing Heyyy, sexy lady is being watched 7 to 10 million times a day.

Be a part of history and add one to the tally. Bieber’s in the dust! For now…

According to Google, “one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second”

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Did you read the mind-boggling factoid? One hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second. Or, 60 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. No matter how you spell it out, this really is remarkable stuff. Furthermore, this amount of uploaded content is an increase of more than 30 percent in the last eight months! In other fascinating news, the video sharing service has exceeded four billion video views globally every day–up 25 percent in the last eight months and “the equivalent of more than half the world’s population watching a video every day.”

Are you finding it hard to wrap your head around all this? YouTube has put together a neat visualization at www.onehourpersecond.com that helps interpret the facts. Preview it in the video embedded above, and consciously know that you are contributing to the site’s daily viewership that now exceeds four billion!

[Via YouTube]

Google news: New Google bar, YouTube gets a new look, and the evolution of search

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The folks at Mountain View are constantly working hard to bring new experiences to the Internet, as well as updating the ones we use most. You know that horizontal (recently painted black) navigation bar that rests at the top of every Google webpage, including the search homepage? Well, it’s going away to save screen real estate and unify all that Google has to offer. The new Google bar isn’t a bar at all, really. It’s comprised of three sections: Google menu, Search, and Google+ tools. All three of these sections will be found in the spot location across all of Google’s products. The Google menu is accessed by hovering your mouse over the Google logo in the left hand corner, saving you a click to reach Google’s other products like Images, Maps, and Gmail. Search sits in the top middle, and easy access to Google+ tools is on the right. Navigating Google, searching, and sharing links with friends is now a more streamlined and cleaner experience. The new Google bar is rolling out soon.

After months of testing a new layout dubbed “Cosmic Panda” Google has finally rolled out an updated look for YouTube. First off, the homepage is totally redesigned and built to be customized to your liking. To the left you’ll find a YouTube Channel line-up. If you’re signed in with a Google account the setup is like this: a list of your Subscriptions, including Google+ and Facebook social integration; From YouTube categories, including trending and popular videos; and Suggested channels for you. To add a channel to your list simply click the Add channels buttons up top to be directed to a listing of all video categories; subscribing to channels from there is a one-click process. Back on the homepage, when you click a channel from your line-up content will appear in the center of the page. Instead of navigating you to an entirely new URL, the new YouTube homepage keeps you in one place while you’re browsing content. Play a video and then you’ll be brought to the uploader’s channel so you can watch the video and comment on it. Speaking of channels, Google has updated those spaces as well with new templates and a sharper layout. And with inspiration from Cosmic Panda, Google has opted to stick with the trial’s consistent gray background, bigger video thumbnails, and a more streamlined watch page. The new YouTube is available to play with today; sign in with a Google account to customize.

Last, Google has produced an interesting video that tells the “short history of the evolution of search, highlighting some of the most important milestones from the past decade—and a taste of what’s coming next.” Watch it after the break. There you’ll also find videos highlighting the new Google bar and YouTube’s cosmetic transformation.

[Via Google 1, 2, 3] Continue reading Google news: New Google bar, YouTube gets a new look, and the evolution of search →

Google+ gets trending topics, among other additions

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Updating Google TV just wasn’t enough for the G-Men. Around the same time Google announced the forthcoming GTV updates, they flipped a switch and introduced four additions to their social network project known as Google+. First, they’ve stolen a page out of Twitter’s playbook and Paris Hilton’s vocabulary to come up with a “What’s Hot” trending topics section. Users can now search and view the most popular items being shared on the network. Next, Google is giving users the opportunity to watch shared content spread across the social network with Google+ Ripples. Described as a “visualization tool for public shares and comments,”  Ripple will allow users to zoom in on shared events and identify top contributors. If this “experimental” feature sounds interesting to you, give it a spin! The Google+ Creative Kit has been added to the Photos section of the site. The kit provides users with more ways to edit and personalize uploaded photos. Last, the company has announced that Google+ is now available to all Google Apps customers worldwide. Read more about it at Google’s Enterprise blog. All of the new updates described here have already rolled out to users, so if you’ve got an account check ’em out. Video after the break.

Update (11/3): Today Google baked YouTube functionality inside Google+. Login to your Google+ account and you’ll find a new YouTube icon hanging out in at the top right of the screen. When you wave your cursor over it, it’ll expand and ask you “What would you like to play?” Enter a query and Google will automatically play a related video and generate a playlist of related videos in a separate window. You can easily share YouTube videos with your friends on the network, and they in turn can open a related playlist directly from your post. Also, YouTube playlists will now reveal themselves in Google+ search results.

Update (11/7): And the Google+ updates keep on coming. Today Google rolled out Google+ Pages worldwide. In simplest terms, Pages are profiles for businesses and brands. They look and function almost exactly like individual profiles. A shiny badge is plastered on Pages to distinguish them from regular users. Beyond that, sharing information, circle relationships, Hangouts–it’s all the same. Pages will now show up in Google+ search results. Additionally, Pages will show up in standard Google search results when you add the “+” before your query. For example, when you type “+Pepsi” in Google and hit enter, you will instantly be taken to Pepsi’s Google+ Page. Google’s calling this Direct Connect. Watch it in action after the break, then give it a go on your own.

[Via GoogleBlog 1, 2, 3] Continue reading Google+ gets trending topics, among other additions →