I
spend a lot of my time on the Internet. Whether I’m researching something for
History homework, nerding out at how awesome science is, or just relaxing,
there always seems to be something to do on the World Wide Web. YouTube in
particular is one of my favorite destinations for killing a few minutes or
procrastinating. YouTube has such a variety of content and is constantly evolving.
Most importantly, it’s free. To pay for the website, Google has opened YouTube
to advertising.
In fifteen minutes of browsing YouTube,
I was exposed to 13 advertisements: 7 off-video ads, 4 on-video banners and 2
pre-video full motion adds. This amount of advertising doesn’t really bother me
that much as it means I don’t have to pay for use of the website. The only
times advertising actually angers me is when it detracts from content quality.
For a very long time, I had never
thought that advertising had much of an impact on YouTube videos’ content
quality. This was because I only saw the situation from the consumers’ point of
view. My whole opinion on the topic changed when I watched a video by one of my
favorite YouTubers, CGP Grey. In the video, the mysterious Mr. Grey explains
how advertising stifles the creativity of YouTubers by demanding videos that
will gain the most views, instead of the ones that are the most enjoyable to
make. I highly recommend his video (http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=sX7qxCCG3oU&feature=c4-overview&list=UU2C_jShtL725hvbm1arSV9w) especially 1:43-2:45. It was really enlightening
for me to see how much of an influence advertising has on the actual content
creators.
There is, however, one other way
that YouTubers’ content is negatively influenced by advertising, one that I as
a consumer find far more annoying than the stifling of creativity. The one
advertising attempt that can significantly detract from a video is product
placement. For example, Mental Floss’s YouTube channel has a series of videos
titled “Be More Interesting,” where one of the show’s hosts learns a number of
skills, such as ripping a phonebook in half and breaking a board with his bare
hands. This series would be entertaining and interesting if not for its
aggravating Dos Equis product placement at the end of each video. This has
become so annoying in fact, that I have stopped watching the “Be More
Interesting” videos entirely.
Again, I am not against advertising
as a whole in the entertainment industry. I really appreciate it when I don’t
have to pay for a service as a result of advertising. The problem occurs once
advertising starts getting in the way of the video.
Works Cited
Help
CGP Grey on Subbable. Perf. CGP Grey. YouTube. YouTube,
30 July 2013. Web. 22 Sept. 2013.
How
to Rip a Phonebook in Half. Perf. Max Silvestri. YouTube.
Mental Floss, 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 22 Sept. 2013. http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=fYUu5twTT2s&list=PLYT7t0pcxEIO9eSA_av5UYBQoe--g0S-U&index=2
Thanks Will. I will definitely check-out that link. Maybe I will show it in class. I have a question, one that I posed to one of your classmates. I forget who. What are the overhead expenses associated with Youtube? Naturally, television shows need to generate revenue from corporate sponsors in order to pay the actors (one of the reasons for the proliferation of reality television), writers, producers, etc. In this relationship, between television entertainment and sponsors, advertising seems more reasonable or acceptable, because people really do need to be paid. However, I cannot quite think of what costs the Youtube ads are helping to pay. In my mind, the ads on Youtube seem to be almost 100% profit for Google. Does this make sense? What am I missing?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yes, I agree with you about product placement. This strikes me as a shameless form of advertising. I recall your sister writing a post years ago - in response to the prompt that I will assign next week - identifying all of the merchandise that was advertised in Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" video. Honestly, I hadn't noticed it until she wrote about it.