Filed under: Google (GOOG), Time Warner (TWX), Marketing and advertising, Walt Disney (DIS), Viacom (VIA)
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) wants to see if the attention span of its YouTube users can be stretched a bit. According to this Fortune article, YouTube seems to think that short clips might not necessarily be the backbone of long-term growth. Instead, longer videos might make the site more valuable. Why is this? Well, the article intimates that the founders of the site, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, think there’s a market out there that might want something more than easy, user-generated content that focuses on the banal side of life for about three minutes per clip.
I see the point here. Google wants to figure out, once and for all, the best way to monetize its YouTube investment. This isn’t the easiest thing to do, since users of YouTube are, in theory, only interested in seeing short content as fast as possible. They don’t want to be burdened by ads. But YouTube is betting that maybe, just maybe, by going against theory and putting on longer material of better quality, the eyeballs will become more intrigued and will perhaps be willing to view a greater quantity of videos. It all comes down to the quality of the content.
I find this to be a very interesting concept, and I think testing long-form content is justified. But I wouldn’t hold out much hope for huge success with this initiative. The article cites the success of Francis Stokes, who received a development deal with the Sci-Fi Channel based on a long-form piece of content. But for each Francis Stokes, there’s going to be many examples of long-form content that people could care less about. And you still have the issue of ad-resistance in terms of the users. Even YouTube’s spokeswoman, Julie Supan, states that the brief-clip format is the essence of YouTube’s initial attraction for web surfers.
Courting short filmmakers also is a way for YouTube to prove that it isn’t just a platform for items pirated from the portfolios of media companies like Disney (NYSE: DIS), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA). That will help build brand equity for the social-networking site. But again, it’s difficult to state if long content will suddenly transform YouTube into the stuff of advertisers’ dreams. And the other confusing thing is the whole about-face nature of the issue. Wasn’t everyone fascinated by the artistic challenges of making three-minute films? Guess that isn’t so hip anymore. YouTube seems to want it all. It wants to be the king of the four-minute video and the forty-minute film. I’m not sure these two worlds can exist in serenity.
Disclosure: I own Disney; positions can change at any time.
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