YouTube Expands API Set - Including Upload, Player APIs
Written by Richard MacManus / March 12, 2008 2:13 AM
/ 8 Comments
YouTube's announcement tonight wasn't higher quality videos (yet), but a set of new APIs and expanded features. YouTube now describes itself as "an open, general purpose, video services platform, available for use by just about any third-party website, desktop application, or consumer device." There's a video embedded below with YouTube co-founder Steve Chen and others talking about the new features - including right at the end a nice little Steve Ballmer impersonation by Chen! The new APIs announced on the YouTube blog were:
- Upload videos and video responses to YouTube
- Add/Edit user and video metadata (titles, descriptions, ratings, comments, favorites, contacts, etc)
- Fetch localized standard feeds (most viewed, top rated, etc.) for 18 international locales
- Perform custom queries optimized for 18 international locales
- Customize player UI and control video playback (pause, play, stop, etc.) through software
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brilliant! the API's will let you link specific times in the video to external actions, someone call slideshare and get them to integrate video with slides, stat!
You tube showed the world what it makes to be successful on the world business. Just a idea.
www.webrexia.com
youtube is going to be a god as google... this will be a problem..
Chen has a picture of himself on his wall...
This sounds great - love the customization to the player, but it appears that their terms of use haven't kept up with it. Check out section 4-F:
So, does this mean that if you start using the new bag of tricks, you're actually violating the terms of use? Hmmm.
Well, this isnt anything new. Even smaller video sites have been doing this. Check out this video, for example, http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/chicken_soup_with_vegetables_from_lauren_grovemans_kitchen
The video has recipe ingredients, description, ability to log-in, comment, rate etc all built in. Whats the big deal about YouTube doing it. They are just following the smaller players. Sign of a big company slacking and catching up with others rather than leading the curve.
On of the major success factor for youtube is the possibility of its embed videos because the videos spread like wild fire.
This is good news.
I think YouTube is going to become an ultimate and monopolistic video hosting service (thanks to Google power). Now everybody can create video websites and desktop software that capture videos to store at YouTube, virtually at no cost (except bandwith).
Websites will not be so boring like they are now :-) However, in some topics plain texts are still better than videos, perhaps because texts help you think more.
I am going to explore these new APIs to use them on my websites.