YouTube Annotations Review
June 4, 2008 by Mike Abundo
Filed under Computers
\r\n\r\nAs usual, market leader YouTube can bide its time when copying competitors\’ features. YouTube Annotations allow video creators to add notes and video links to videos. I added a few annotations to this video of Happy Slip joining the Sini Gang.\r\n\r\nThe Bad\r\n\r\nUnlike notes in Viddler, YouTube Annotations are not social; only video creators can annotate videos. Annotations don\’t show up in embeds yet, but YouTube definitely plans to push them out. Annotations could also use more customization options; gray rectangles and speech balloons can get pretty damn boring.\r\n\r\nOne thing that really irks me is the inability to add external links to videos. You cannot, for instance, add links to the personal sites of people in a video. External links are the big selling point of Asterpix. I understand that YouTube wants to deter spammers, but this sort of internal-only linking feels disturbingly like information silo behavior.\r\n\r\nThe Good\r\n\r\nYou can still do some fun stuff with YouTube Annotations, though. With links, for instance, you can create interactive selection points that link to several possible outcome videos. Expect an explosion of choose-your-own-adventure style FMV games on YouTube, like this shell game.\r\n\r\nYes, it\’s another classic game genre resurrected on the Web. Funny how that just keeps happening in the most unexpected ways. \r\n\r\nThe Money\r\n\r\nAmazon\’s video widget shows us one possible future use for YouTube Annotations: AdSense referral ads. YouTube product placements, as hotzones on specific products within a video, could take on a whole new meaning.\r\n\r\nIt\’s the pre-crash dot-com marketer\’s dream: TV with a buy button.\r\n\r\nThe Beta\r\n\r\nYouTube Annotations clearly lack features offered by many other video annotation systems, but I won\’t complain too much yet. After all, it\’s still in beta. History tells us YouTube almost always catches up on features, and always popularizes those features big time. Expect a lot of YouTubers to start making clever VH1-style Pop-Up Videos.\r\n\r\n(Via Ionut Alex Chitu.)
Here’s a good how-to video on YouTube Annotations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXtwUrKwK3g
Actually there are a lot of video groups that are doing “interactive video.” YouTube is just dipping their toes in the water. Check out http://www.veeple.com. They allow you to not only annotate your videos but also add interactive images from your computer, make any object in your video linkable to any outside website and you can move your spot, your link or annotation around the screen in real-time, link to a MySpace or Facebook page, let others annotate your video, and on and on, pretty cool! They are more of a lab where people can come play than a competitor to YouTube (they have very low traffic) but they are doing some neat interactive stuff.
The Youtube annotation service is nice, it’s another proof of concept to the growing market of Interactive videos. I invite you to check http://www.bubbleply.com; which was one of the first “white labeled” services enabling the creation and enrichment of videos with cool bubbles, video on video, pictures links etc…
As you pointed out, Viddler allows the viewers to add their comments or “annotations” and that adds a whole different experience. Watching becomes more social and can even become a group activity. Very different than having the creator add a line. If you like playing with yourself, stick with YouTube!
These guys came up with a funny way to use annotations! thought you might like!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqujFiwL5cs
-Paul