YouTube Gets a Makeover

by Ashley Haugen

Things may look a little different next time you log into YouTube. The video website has gone through a major re-design to highlight subscriptions and channels. When you login, you will be greeted with a new homepage that shows recent activity from all of your subscriptions. What I like most though about the new YouTube is their Facebook and Google+ integration.

The re-design sets up YouTube to become a bigger competitor to cable TV. With millions of Youtube channels, the new homepage allows you to better organize and watch the things that interest you the most. "[YouTube] is a container for all the world's video, and it needs to be the best home for that," says Margaret Stewart, director of User Experience at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, Calif.

Besides the appealingly simplistic design, it encourages the user to find new content through the the trending, popular, music and entertainment links on your home page. In the left navigation bar, there are also links to Facebook and Google+. Clicking these displays videos that your friends on either network have shared. Having these all in one easy, clean space is very attractive.

Check it out for yourself, or watch this video showcasing the new design.

GoMo Helps Businesses Go Mobile

Many businesses understand the importance of reaching consumers on the go with great mobile sites. However, the process isn’t always easy and many smaller companies are stuck trying to figure out what is the first step. Enter Google's new initiative, “GoMo.” It aims to help businesses work out the kinks involved with going mobile.

Basically, Google has put together a list of resources to help businesses create a mobile site or troubleshoot an existing one. With an emphasis on why mobile matters, GoMo is also aimed at those stingy skeptics who still believe they can go without. (For those people I would like to say that mobile searches have grown four times since 2010, and that 57% of mobile users would not recommend a business with a bad mobile site.) The crux of the campaign is centered on their website, howtogomo.com. Once there, you can plug in your company website to see what it currently looks like on a smartphone, check out great mobile examples, and find site builders who can help.

The website also offers statistics on the mobile industry, so it’s worth a look around. Some interesting ones include:
-60% of users expect a mobile site to load in three seconds or less.
-61% of users call a business after searching and 59% visit the location.
-40% have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience.

As far as ulterior motives go, Google is trying to grow its mobile ad business. Earlier this year Google revealed that 79 percent of its largest advertisers don't have mobile-optimised websites. The GoMo initiative will help businesses get their mobile feet off the ground, while also putting more ad dollars in Google’s wallet. Now that’s convenience.

Google Chairman Draws Line in the Pseudonym Sand

Opinions are split on the idea of using real names online, with many questioning the security risks that come with it.

Accordingly, most social networks simply require usernames that aren't actual names themselves. Even sites that urge the use of real names, like Facebook, still have ways to get around the real-name issue.

However, Google recently created a stir by suspending Google+ accounts that didn't use their real names.

Naturally, those whose personal brands were built on fake names (pseudonyms, blog names, etc.) were up in arms over the exclusion. However, I personally felt this issue would go through the same phases that practically all of these social media controversies do:

1. Polarizing decision by company
2. Angry mob of users
3. Retraction and resolution by company

Basically, when users start making a lot of noise, the social networks eventually makes concessions.

Not so in this case. In fact, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was recently interviewed, more or less saying the if you don't like their policy, then don't use Google+. It's definitely not the typical fence-straddling corporate-speak we tend to get in response to contentious decisions, but it is a firm line the Google is drawing in regards to the use of real names online.

Either way, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out as Google+ continues to push for social networking legitimacy.

Photovine App Grows A Photo Story

Google recently went live with a new picture sharing application for iPhone called Photovine. The app offers users a way to share pictures in categorized threads called vines. These vines have themes such as “sunsets” or “sleeping cats” as determined by the original creator. Users then take a picture that matches the theme and adds it to the vine, thus creating a growing photo story. Hence the apps tagline: “Plant a photo, watch it grow.”

Users can add comments, "like" photos and see vines in either a single, slideshow format, or grid view. There are also three different ways to sort the vines: Fresh, popular and watching. Users can also find and follow address books, as well as Facebook and Twitter contacts. Because anyone can upload to vines and view photos, the app can feel a little impersonal, which is why the “Activity” tab is nice. It shows all new photo-related activity from friends, making the app a little more intimate.




I am surprised to learn that Photovine is so far an Apple exclusive app. There’s no Android app yet, which is a curious move to say the least. Google doesn’t usually exclude its own mobile platform with new product launches. Also perplexing is the exclusion of an option to add your Gmail contacts. Is Google just playing nice with Apple fans? Why exclude its own services?

I have no doubt that Google will launch an Android version of the app soon, but until then, Apple bears the fruit of this "vine".