Youtube

FreeWebs' Ajaxy site builder launches

FreeWebs has officially launched the WYSIWYG Site Builder tool we blogged about last month. In short, it lets anyone build a site without any knowledge of HTML, or having to refresh the page to see changes. The service soft-launched the tool early last week, and I took it for a spin this morning.

Site Builder emulates a desktop app, with a small floating tool bar, and context-sensitive menus that will serve up different actions depending on what tool you're using. For example, if you've inserted an image, the menu will give you options to align it with text, … Read more

MySpace, MTV team up for one-on-one presidential dialogues

In an appeal to the coveted youth vote in the upcoming presidential elections, MySpace and MTV announced Thursday that they have joined forces for a series of "one-on-one dialogues" with all the major candidates from both political parties--televised and Webcast events in which presidential hopefuls will answer questions from MySpace members and MTV watchers. Formally, it's a collaboration between MySpace's "Impact" political channel and MTV's "Choose or Lose" election effort (which it has been operating since the dinosaur days of the 1992 election), and it's the first collaboration that the … Read more

New ads jar some YouTube fans

Fans of Google's YouTube are starting to react to overlay advertisements the company began testing on Wednesday. Some find them jarring, some in international quarters wish they could see them, and still others are wondering if they can make money off their own videos with these ads. While there's hardly a unanimous opinion, one thing is for certain: Google is finally looking to cash in on its $1.65 billion YouTube acquisition.

The ads appear at the bottom of a video shortly after the clip starts to play and disappear after 10 seconds. They resemble the TV-style ads … Read more

Videos featuring YouTube's new ads found here

In the wake of YouTube's rollout of a new format, some readers have found it difficult to find them.

In the interest of providing a full understanding of how the ads look and work, I've included four videos that feature ads provided to CNET News.com by Google. After watching you can go to this poll and give your opinion of the commercials.

Remember, you have to wait 10 seconds before the ads appear.

Warner Album Browser running on WMG video

Fox Simpsons running on WMG video

NewLine's Hairspray running on Ford Models

BMW 3-Series Convertible running on KillswitchEngage video … Read more

Off-topic: At least 20% of your open-source software isn't adware

I agree with Nick Carr. Wholeheartedly. Google's new ad-supported model for YouTube (i.e., consuming 20% of the already small video screen with an ad) is heralded by Google on its blog.

As Nick notes, Google isn't in the charity business, and some sort of advertising was always on the cards. But it's suggested format is hardly going to be a pleasurable experience:… Read more

Microsoft: We're not Google, and we're proud of it

ASPEN, Colo.--Microsoft lashed out at Google's YouTube video-sharing site on Tuesday, saying its own Soapbox is far more responsible and doesn't take advantage of "loopholes" in copyright law.

Thomas Rubin, Microsoft's associate general counsel for copyright, said that unlike YouTube, Microsoft's Soapbox video-sharing site is designed to work in concert with copyright holders and that it represents an effort to be a good corporate citizen. Soapbox uses Audible Magic fingerprinting technology.

In a swipe at Google, which has been sued by Viacom over the presence of numerous copyrighted videos on YouTube, Rubin said … Read more

Google ties YouTube videos to news stories

Google is combining YouTube videos with Google News to offer users what it hopes will be greater perspective on news stories.

The company announced on its blog that visitors to Google News will see a "Video" prefix next to news stories. Clicking on these links will take them to a YouTube page where they can watch video about the subject.

Google is still testing the offering with news sources such as CBS, Reuters and local TV stations owned by Hearst.

"Today, viewing news videos or other content types on the Web can be a frustrating experience," … Read more

Google Maps easy embed feature goes live

That handy new no-nonsense embedding feature for Google Maps has gone live today. Clicking the "link to this page" option on the top right of any map will give you quick and dirty embed code to place into any blog or Web site that supports it. There's also an advanced option set to tweak the size from small, medium, large, or custom like I've done with the one embedded below. Instead of using Adobe Flash, Google employs an iframe to simply load the page within the page.

This is a far easier solution than tracking down … Read more

Make a video, win a Vespa

Legendary scooter maker Vespa enlists the YouTube generation to make commercials highlighting what the company calls 'Vespanomics.' If you never encountered Vespanomics in your Econ101 class, it's the theory of how Vespa scooters are environmentally friendly, decrease traffic congestion, and look cool. At least, that's the definition proposed by the marketers at Vespa. And with gas mileage at around 65mpg, the company has a point. As for cool, you only have to watch the movie 'Quadrophenia' to get that vibe. Vespa is accepting videos illustrating these concepts until October 15. The entrants will be judged by Vespa and … Read more